diff --git a/doc/manual/rl-next/fix-gc-links.md b/doc/manual/rl-next/fix-gc-links.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1a40a6969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/rl-next/fix-gc-links.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+synopsis: "nix-store --delete: always remove obsolete hardlinks"
+issues: []
+cls: [3188]
+category: Fixes
+credits: [lheckemann]
+---
+
+Deleting specific paths using `nix-store --delete` or `nix store
+delete` previously did not delete hard links created by `nix-store
+--optimise` even if they became obsolete, unless _all_ of the given
+paths were deleted successfully. Now, hard links are always cleaned
+up, even if some of the given paths could not be deleted.
diff --git a/doc/manual/rl-next/fix-gc-stats.md b/doc/manual/rl-next/fix-gc-stats.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc417892d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/rl-next/fix-gc-stats.md
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+---
+synopsis: "Report GC statistics correctly"
+issues: []
+cls: [3188]
+category: Fixes
+credits: [lheckemann]
+---
+
+Deleting specific paths using `nix-store --delete` or `nix store delete` previously did
+not report statistics correctly when some of the paths could not be deleted, even if
+others were deleted:
+
+```
+$ nix store delete /nix/store/9bwryidal9q3g91cjm6xschfn4ikd82q-hello-2.12.1 --delete-closure -v
+finding garbage collector roots...
+deleting '/nix/store/9bwryidal9q3g91cjm6xschfn4ikd82q-hello-2.12.1'
+0 store paths deleted, 0.00 MiB freed
+error: Cannot delete some of the given paths because they are still alive. Paths not deleted:
+         k9bxzr1l92r5y6mihrkbpbr3fmc8qszx-libidn2-2.3.8
+         mbx9ii53lzjlrsnlrfmzpwm33ynljwdn-libunistring-1.3
+         rf8hcy6bldxdqc0g6q1dcka1vh47x69s-xgcc-14.2.1.20250322-libgcc
+         vbrdc5wgzn0w1zdp10xd2favkjn5fk7y-glibc-2.40-66
+       To find out why, use nix-store --query --roots and nix-store --query --referrers.
+```
diff --git a/lix/libstore/gc.cc b/lix/libstore/gc.cc
index 0aad78c30..6a9f679b8 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/gc.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/gc.cc
@@ -813,10 +813,10 @@ try {
         }
     };
 
+    PathSet kept;
     /* Either delete all garbage paths, or just the specified
        paths (for gcDeleteSpecific and gcTryDeleteSpecific). */
     if (deleteSpecific) {
-        PathSet kept;
         for (auto & i : options.pathsToDelete) {
             TRY_AWAIT(deleteReferrersClosure(i));
             if (!dead.count(i)) {
@@ -831,25 +831,6 @@ try {
                 printTalkative(path);
             }
         }
-        if (options.action == GCOptions::gcDeleteSpecific && !kept.empty()) {
-            std::ostringstream pathSummary;
-            for (auto const [n, path]: enumerate(kept)) {
-                pathSummary << "\n  " << path;
-                const int summaryThreshold = 10;
-                if (n >= summaryThreshold) {
-                    pathSummary << "\nand " << kept.size() - summaryThreshold << " others.";
-                    break;
-                }
-            }
-            throw Error(
-                "Cannot delete some of the given paths because they are still alive. "
-                "Paths not deleted:"
-                "%1%"
-                "\nTo find out why, use nix-store --query --roots and nix-store --query --referrers."
-                ,
-                pathSummary.str()
-            );
-        }
 
     } else if (options.maxFreed > 0) {
 
@@ -940,6 +921,25 @@ try {
         printInfo("note: currently hard linking saves %.2f MiB",
             ((unsharedSize - actualSize - overhead) / (1024.0 * 1024.0)));
     }
+    if (options.action == GCOptions::gcDeleteSpecific && !kept.empty()) {
+        std::ostringstream pathSummary;
+        for (auto const [n, path]: enumerate(kept)) {
+            pathSummary << "\n  " << path;
+            const int summaryThreshold = 10;
+            if (n >= summaryThreshold) {
+                pathSummary << "\nand " << kept.size() - summaryThreshold << " others.";
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        throw Error(
+            "Cannot delete some of the given paths because they are still alive. "
+            "Paths not deleted:"
+            "%1%"
+            "\nTo find out why, use nix-store --query --roots and nix-store --query --referrers."
+            ,
+            pathSummary.str()
+        );
+    }
     co_return result::success();
 } catch (...) {
     co_return result::current_exception();
diff --git a/tests/functional/dependencies.nix b/tests/functional/dependencies.nix
index 944371053..6463bcb32 100644
--- a/tests/functional/dependencies.nix
+++ b/tests/functional/dependencies.nix
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ let
     name = "dependencies-input-2";
     buildCommand = ''
       mkdir $out
+      # Space-filler to test GC stats reporting
+      head -c 100k /dev/zero > $out/filler
       echo BAR > $out/bar
       echo ${input0} > $out/input0
     '';
diff --git a/tests/functional/gc.sh b/tests/functional/gc.sh
index 7e3327f4f..6df237eaa 100644
--- a/tests/functional/gc.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/gc.sh
@@ -69,11 +69,14 @@ nix-store --delete --skip-live $(readLink $outPath/reference-to-input-2)
 
 rm "$NIX_STATE_DIR"/gcroots/foo
 # with the dependent unrooted, we should be able to remove input2...
-nix-store --delete --delete-closure $input2
+nix-store --delete --delete-closure $input2 > delete-output
 # which should remove input0, since only input2 and top depended on it and we passed --delete-closure
 ! test -e $input0
 # but fod should be unaffected, since it's not part of input-2's closure
 test -e $fodOut
+# and stats should be reported correctly
+grep "0.10 MiB freed$" delete-output
+test -z "$(grep "0 paths deleted" delete-output)"
 
 
 nix-collect-garbage