diff --git a/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/Operations.java b/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/Operations.java
index 53b1297a5..87bea48d5 100644
--- a/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/Operations.java
+++ b/apps/spark/src/main/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/Operations.java
@@ -312,6 +312,23 @@ public void runRetention(
       boolean backupEnabled,
       String backupDir,
       ZonedDateTime now) {
+    // Pre-flight: plan files matching the retention filter. If none match, the DELETE is a
+    // no-op — skip spark.sql(DELETE) to avoid the full-table COW scan that Iceberg performs
+    // when the retention column doesn't align with the partition spec.
+    Table table = getTable(fqtn);
+    Expression filter =
+        SparkJobUtil.createDeleteFilter(columnName, columnPattern, granularity, count, now);
+    boolean hasMatchingFiles;
+    try (CloseableIterable<FileScanTask> filesIterable =
+        table.newScan().filter(filter).planFiles()) {
+      hasMatchingFiles = filesIterable.iterator().hasNext();
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Failed to plan files for retention pre-flight", e);
+    }
+    if (!hasMatchingFiles) {
+      log.info("Retention pre-flight: no files match filter for table {}, skipping DELETE", fqtn);
+      return;
+    }
     if (backupEnabled) {
       // Cache of manifests: partitionPath -> list of data file path
       Map<String, List<String>> manifestCache =
diff --git a/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/OperationsTest.java b/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/OperationsTest.java
index 3646323b8..30560dd73 100644
--- a/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/OperationsTest.java
+++ b/apps/spark/src/test/java/com/linkedin/openhouse/jobs/spark/OperationsTest.java
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ private void runRetentionJobWithStringPartitionColumns(
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testRetentionCreatesSnapshotsOnNoOpDelete() throws Exception {
+  public void testRetentionSkipsNoOpDelete() throws Exception {
     final String tableName = "db_test.test_retention_sql";
     try (Operations ops = Operations.withCatalog(getSparkSession(), otelEmitter)) {
       prepareTable(ops, tableName);
@@ -174,7 +174,9 @@ public void testRetentionCreatesSnapshotsOnNoOpDelete() throws Exception {
       ops.runRetention(tableName, "ts", "", "day", 2, false, "", ZonedDateTime.now());
       verifyRowCount(ops, tableName, 4);
       List<Long> snapshotsAfter = getSnapshotIds(ops, tableName);
-      Assertions.assertEquals(snapshots.size() + 1, snapshotsAfter.size());
+      // Pre-flight planFiles returns empty (all rows are from today, cutoff is 2 days ago),
+      // so spark.sql(DELETE) is skipped and no new snapshot is produced.
+      Assertions.assertEquals(snapshots.size(), snapshotsAfter.size());
     }
   }
 
@@ -309,6 +311,34 @@ public void testRetentionDataManifestWithTimestampPartitionedTable() throws Exce
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testRetentionNoOpDeleteSkipsBackupManifests() throws Exception {
+    try (Operations ops = Operations.withCatalog(getSparkSession(), otelEmitter)) {
+      String tableName = "db.test_noop_skip_backup";
+      String columnName = "ts";
+      String granularity = "DAY";
+      int count = 1;
+      // Only insert current-day rows; cutoff (1 day ago) leaves nothing to delete.
+      ops.spark()
+          .sql(
+              String.format(
+                  "create table %s (data string, ts timestamp) partitioned by (Days(ts))",
+                  tableName));
+      ops.spark().sql(String.format("insert into %s values ('a', current_timestamp())", tableName));
+      ZonedDateTime now = ZonedDateTime.now();
+      List<Long> snapshotsBefore = getSnapshotIds(ops, tableName);
+      ops.runRetention(tableName, columnName, "", granularity, count, true, ".backup", now);
+      // No backup manifests should be written and BACKUP_DIR_KEY should not be set.
+      Table table = ops.getTable(tableName);
+      Path backupRoot = new Path(table.location(), ".backup");
+      Assertions.assertFalse(ops.fs().exists(backupRoot));
+      Assertions.assertNull(table.properties().get(AppConstants.BACKUP_DIR_KEY));
+      // No DELETE snapshot should be appended.
+      List<Long> snapshotsAfter = getSnapshotIds(ops, tableName);
+      Assertions.assertEquals(snapshotsBefore.size(), snapshotsAfter.size());
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testOrphanFilesDeletionJavaAPI() throws Exception {
     final String tableName = "db.test_ofd_java";