diff --git a/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap.go b/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap.go
index db316c45..dcfc962c 100644
--- a/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap.go
+++ b/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap.go
@@ -1,29 +1,33 @@
+// Package expirymap provides a thread-safe map with expiring entries.
+// It supports TTL-based expiration with both lazy cleanup on access
+// and periodic background cleanup.
 package expirymap
 
 import (
-	"reflect"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/store"
 )
 
-type val[T any] struct {
+type val[T comparable] struct {
 	value   T
 	expires time.Time
 }
 
-type ExpiryMap[T any] struct {
-	store           *store.Store[string, *val[T]]
-	cleanupInterval time.Duration
+type ExpiryMap[T comparable] struct {
+	store    *store.Store[string, *val[T]]
+	stopChan chan struct{}
+	stopOnce sync.Once
 }
 
 // New creates a new expiry map with custom cleanup interval
-func New[T any](cleanupInterval time.Duration) *ExpiryMap[T] {
+func New[T comparable](cleanupInterval time.Duration) *ExpiryMap[T] {
 	m := &ExpiryMap[T]{
-		store:           store.New(map[string]*val[T]{}),
-		cleanupInterval: cleanupInterval,
+		store:    store.New(map[string]*val[T]{}),
+		stopChan: make(chan struct{}),
 	}
-	m.startCleaner()
+	go m.startCleaner(cleanupInterval)
 	return m
 }
 
@@ -55,7 +59,7 @@ func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) GetOk(key string) (T, bool) {
 // GetByValue retrieves a value by value
 func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) GetByValue(val T) (key string, value T, ok bool) {
 	for key, v := range m.store.GetAll() {
-		if reflect.DeepEqual(v.value, val) {
+		if v.value == val {
 			// check if expired
 			if v.expires.Before(time.Now()) {
 				m.store.Remove(key)
@@ -75,7 +79,7 @@ func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) Remove(key string) {
 // RemovebyValue removes a value by value
 func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) RemovebyValue(value T) (T, bool) {
 	for key, val := range m.store.GetAll() {
-		if reflect.DeepEqual(val.value, value) {
+		if val.value == value {
 			m.store.Remove(key)
 			return val.value, true
 		}
@@ -84,13 +88,23 @@ func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) RemovebyValue(value T) (T, bool) {
 }
 
 // startCleaner runs the background cleanup process
-func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) startCleaner() {
-	go func() {
-		tick := time.Tick(m.cleanupInterval)
-		for range tick {
+func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) startCleaner(interval time.Duration) {
+	tick := time.Tick(interval)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-tick:
 			m.cleanup()
+		case <-m.stopChan:
+			return
 		}
-	}()
+	}
+}
+
+// StopCleaner stops the background cleanup process
+func (m *ExpiryMap[T]) StopCleaner() {
+	m.stopOnce.Do(func() {
+		close(m.stopChan)
+	})
 }
 
 // cleanup removes all expired entries
diff --git a/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap_test.go b/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap_test.go
index 6ac09c43..9fec2012 100644
--- a/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap_test.go
+++ b/internal/hub/expirymap/expirymap_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package expirymap
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"testing/synctest"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -473,3 +474,52 @@ func TestExpiryMap_ValueOperations_Integration(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "unique", value)
 	assert.Equal(t, "key2", key)
 }
+
+func TestExpiryMap_Cleaner(t *testing.T) {
+	synctest.Test(t, func(t *testing.T) {
+		em := New[string](time.Second)
+		defer em.StopCleaner()
+
+		em.Set("test", "value", 500*time.Millisecond)
+
+		// Wait 600ms, value is expired but cleaner hasn't run yet (interval is 1s)
+		time.Sleep(600 * time.Millisecond)
+		synctest.Wait()
+
+		// Map should still hold the value in its internal store before lazy access or cleaner
+		assert.Equal(t, 1, len(em.store.GetAll()), "store should still have 1 item before cleaner runs")
+
+		// Wait another 500ms so cleaner (1s interval) runs
+		time.Sleep(500 * time.Millisecond)
+		synctest.Wait() // Wait for background goroutine to process the tick
+
+		assert.Equal(t, 0, len(em.store.GetAll()), "store should be empty after cleaner runs")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestExpiryMap_StopCleaner(t *testing.T) {
+	em := New[string](time.Hour)
+
+	// Initially, stopChan is open, reading would block
+	select {
+	case <-em.stopChan:
+		t.Fatal("stopChan should be open initially")
+	default:
+		// success
+	}
+
+	em.StopCleaner()
+
+	// After StopCleaner, stopChan is closed, reading returns immediately
+	select {
+	case <-em.stopChan:
+		// success
+	default:
+		t.Fatal("stopChan was not closed by StopCleaner")
+	}
+
+	// Calling StopCleaner again should NOT panic thanks to sync.Once
+	assert.NotPanics(t, func() {
+		em.StopCleaner()
+	})
+}
diff --git a/internal/hub/systems/systems_test_helpers.go b/internal/hub/systems/systems_test_helpers.go
index 8599bca3..53729c01 100644
--- a/internal/hub/systems/systems_test_helpers.go
+++ b/internal/hub/systems/systems_test_helpers.go
@@ -113,4 +113,5 @@ func (sm *SystemManager) RemoveAllSystems() {
 	for _, system := range sm.systems.GetAll() {
 		sm.RemoveSystem(system.Id)
 	}
+	sm.smartFetchMap.StopCleaner()
 }