diff --git a/src/wasm.cc b/src/wasm.cc
index 15127c99a..9d2566fc1 100644
--- a/src/wasm.cc
+++ b/src/wasm.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <limits>
 #include <memory>
 #include <mutex>
+#include <queue>
 #include <string>
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <utility>
@@ -36,13 +37,56 @@ namespace proxy_wasm {
 
 namespace {
 
-// Map from Wasm Key to the local Wasm instance.
+// Map from Wasm key to the thread-local Wasm instance.
 thread_local std::unordered_map<std::string, std::weak_ptr<WasmHandleBase>> local_wasms;
+// Wasm key queue to track stale entries in `local_wasms`.
+thread_local std::queue<std::string> local_wasms_keys;
+
+// Map from plugin key to the thread-local plugin instance.
 thread_local std::unordered_map<std::string, std::weak_ptr<PluginHandleBase>> local_plugins;
+// Plugin key queue to track stale entries in `local_plugins`.
+thread_local std::queue<std::string> local_plugins_keys;
+
+// Check no more than `MAX_LOCAL_CACHE_GC_CHUNK_SIZE` cache entries at a time during stale entries
+// cleanup.
+const size_t MAX_LOCAL_CACHE_GC_CHUNK_SIZE = 64;
+
 // Map from Wasm Key to the base Wasm instance, using a pointer to avoid the initialization fiasco.
 std::mutex base_wasms_mutex;
 std::unordered_map<std::string, std::weak_ptr<WasmHandleBase>> *base_wasms = nullptr;
 
+void cacheLocalWasm(const std::string &key, const std::shared_ptr<WasmHandleBase> &wasm_handle) {
+  local_wasms[key] = wasm_handle;
+  local_wasms_keys.emplace(key);
+}
+
+void cacheLocalPlugin(const std::string &key,
+                      const std::shared_ptr<PluginHandleBase> &plugin_handle) {
+  local_plugins[key] = plugin_handle;
+  local_plugins_keys.emplace(key);
+}
+
+template <class T>
+void removeStaleLocalCacheEntries(std::unordered_map<std::string, std::weak_ptr<T>> &cache,
+                                  std::queue<std::string> &keys) {
+  auto num_keys_to_check = std::min(MAX_LOCAL_CACHE_GC_CHUNK_SIZE, keys.size());
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < num_keys_to_check; i++) {
+    std::string key(keys.front());
+    keys.pop();
+
+    const auto it = cache.find(key);
+    if (it == cache.end()) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (it->second.expired()) {
+      cache.erase(it);
+    } else {
+      keys.push(std::move(key));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 } // namespace
 
 std::string makeVmKey(std::string_view vm_id, std::string_view vm_configuration,
@@ -525,14 +569,15 @@ std::shared_ptr<WasmHandleBase> createWasm(const std::string &vm_key, const std:
 
 std::shared_ptr<WasmHandleBase> getThreadLocalWasm(std::string_view vm_key) {
   auto it = local_wasms.find(std::string(vm_key));
-  if (it == local_wasms.end()) {
-    return nullptr;
-  }
-  auto wasm = it->second.lock();
-  if (!wasm) {
-    local_wasms.erase(std::string(vm_key));
+  if (it != local_wasms.end()) {
+    auto wasm = it->second.lock();
+    if (wasm) {
+      return wasm;
+    }
+    local_wasms.erase(it);
   }
-  return wasm;
+  removeStaleLocalCacheEntries(local_wasms, local_wasms_keys);
+  return nullptr;
 }
 
 static std::shared_ptr<WasmHandleBase>
@@ -546,9 +591,9 @@ getOrCreateThreadLocalWasm(const std::shared_ptr<WasmHandleBase> &base_handle,
     if (wasm_handle) {
       return wasm_handle;
     }
-    // Remove stale entry.
-    local_wasms.erase(vm_key);
+    local_wasms.erase(it);
   }
+  removeStaleLocalCacheEntries(local_wasms, local_wasms_keys);
   // Create and initialize new thread-local WasmVM.
   auto wasm_handle = clone_factory(base_handle);
   if (!wasm_handle) {
@@ -560,7 +605,7 @@ getOrCreateThreadLocalWasm(const std::shared_ptr<WasmHandleBase> &base_handle,
     base_handle->wasm()->fail(FailState::UnableToInitializeCode, "Failed to initialize Wasm code");
     return nullptr;
   }
-  local_wasms[vm_key] = wasm_handle;
+  cacheLocalWasm(vm_key, wasm_handle);
   wasm_handle->wasm()->wasm_vm()->addFailCallback([vm_key](proxy_wasm::FailState fail_state) {
     if (fail_state == proxy_wasm::FailState::RuntimeError) {
       // If VM failed, erase the entry so that:
@@ -583,9 +628,9 @@ std::shared_ptr<PluginHandleBase> getOrCreateThreadLocalPlugin(
     if (plugin_handle) {
       return plugin_handle;
     }
-    // Remove stale entry.
-    local_plugins.erase(key);
+    local_plugins.erase(it);
   }
+  removeStaleLocalCacheEntries(local_plugins, local_plugins_keys);
   // Get thread-local WasmVM.
   auto wasm_handle = getOrCreateThreadLocalWasm(base_handle, clone_factory);
   if (!wasm_handle) {
@@ -603,7 +648,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<PluginHandleBase> getOrCreateThreadLocalPlugin(
     return nullptr;
   }
   auto plugin_handle = plugin_factory(wasm_handle, plugin);
-  local_plugins[key] = plugin_handle;
+  cacheLocalPlugin(key, plugin_handle);
   wasm_handle->wasm()->wasm_vm()->addFailCallback([key](proxy_wasm::FailState fail_state) {
     if (fail_state == proxy_wasm::FailState::RuntimeError) {
       // If VM failed, erase the entry so that: