diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs
index 164ed8a93..fe62f8094 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs
@@ -914,6 +914,20 @@ where
             );
         }
 
+        // Prune blobs sidecars older than the blob data availability boundary in the background.
+        if beacon_chain.store.get_config().prune_blobs {
+            let store = beacon_chain.store.clone();
+            let log = log.clone();
+            beacon_chain.task_executor.spawn_blocking(
+                move || {
+                    if let Err(e) = store.try_prune_blobs(false) {
+                        error!(log, "Error pruning blobs in background"; "error" => ?e);
+                    }
+                },
+                "prune_blobs_background",
+            );
+        }
+
         Ok(beacon_chain)
     }
 }
diff --git a/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs b/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs
index 53d99f75e..13ac674df 100644
--- a/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ pub struct StoreConfig {
     pub compact_on_prune: bool,
     /// Whether to prune payloads on initialization and finalization.
     pub prune_payloads: bool,
+    /// Whether to prune blobs older than the blob data availability boundary.
+    pub prune_blobs: bool,
 }
 
 /// Variant of `StoreConfig` that gets written to disk. Contains immutable configuration params.
@@ -50,6 +52,7 @@ impl Default for StoreConfig {
             compact_on_init: false,
             compact_on_prune: true,
             prune_payloads: true,
+            prune_blobs: true,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/database_manager/src/lib.rs b/database_manager/src/lib.rs
index 33accfc05..7222c19f3 100644
--- a/database_manager/src/lib.rs
+++ b/database_manager/src/lib.rs
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ pub fn prune_payloads_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
         .about("Prune finalized execution payloads")
 }
 
+pub fn prune_blobs_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
+    App::new("prune_blobs")
+        .setting(clap::AppSettings::ColoredHelp)
+        .about("Prune blobs older than data availability boundary")
+}
+
 pub fn cli_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
     App::new(CMD)
         .visible_aliases(&["db"])
@@ -92,6 +98,7 @@ pub fn cli_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
         .subcommand(version_cli_app())
         .subcommand(inspect_cli_app())
         .subcommand(prune_payloads_app())
+        .subcommand(prune_blobs_app())
 }
 
 fn parse_client_config<E: EthSpec>(
@@ -287,6 +294,29 @@ pub fn prune_payloads<E: EthSpec>(
     db.try_prune_execution_payloads(force)
 }
 
+pub fn prune_blobs<E: EthSpec>(
+    client_config: ClientConfig,
+    runtime_context: &RuntimeContext<E>,
+    log: Logger,
+) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    let spec = &runtime_context.eth2_config.spec;
+    let hot_path = client_config.get_db_path();
+    let cold_path = client_config.get_freezer_db_path();
+
+    let db = HotColdDB::<E, LevelDB<E>, LevelDB<E>>::open(
+        &hot_path,
+        &cold_path,
+        |_, _, _| Ok(()),
+        client_config.store,
+        spec.clone(),
+        log,
+    )?;
+
+    // If we're trigging a prune manually then ignore the check on the split's parent that bails
+    // out early by passing true to the force parameter.
+    db.try_prune_blobs(true)
+}
+
 /// Run the database manager, returning an error string if the operation did not succeed.
 pub fn run<T: EthSpec>(cli_args: &ArgMatches<'_>, env: Environment<T>) -> Result<(), String> {
     let client_config = parse_client_config(cli_args, &env)?;
@@ -304,6 +334,7 @@ pub fn run<T: EthSpec>(cli_args: &ArgMatches<'_>, env: Environment<T>) -> Result
             inspect_db(inspect_config, client_config, &context, log)
         }
         ("prune_payloads", Some(_)) => prune_payloads(client_config, &context, log),
+        ("prune_blobs", Some(_)) => prune_blobs(client_config, &context, log),
         _ => {
             return Err("Unknown subcommand, for help `lighthouse database_manager --help`".into())
         }