diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go
index f7fdc0dafc0..89a9652bf71 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go
@@ -105,14 +105,14 @@ func SaveShard(shard *topo.ShardInfo) error {
 }
 
 // DeleteStaleKeyspaceShards deletes shard records that have not been updated since a provided time.
-func DeleteStaleKeyspaceShards(keyspace string, staleTime time.Time) error {
+func DeleteStaleKeyspaceShards(keyspaceName string, staleTime time.Time) error {
 	_, err := db.ExecVTOrc(`DELETE FROM vitess_shard
 		WHERE
 			keyspace = ?
 			AND
-			updated_timestamp < DATETIME(?, 'unixepoch')
+			updated_timestamp <= DATETIME(?, 'unixepoch')
 		`,
-		keyspace,
+		keyspaceName,
 		staleTime.Unix(),
 	)
 	return err
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go
index bbc781ae40c..cc6734e30e9 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go
@@ -138,3 +138,29 @@ func TestGetKeyspaceShardNames(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.Equal(t, []string{"-80", "80-"}, shardNames)
 }
+
+func TestDeleteStaleKeyspaceShards(t *testing.T) {
+	// Clear the database after the test. The easiest way to do that is to run all the initialization commands again.
+	defer func() {
+		db.ClearVTOrcDatabase()
+	}()
+
+	shardInfo := topo.NewShardInfo("ks1", "-80", &topodatapb.Shard{}, nil)
+	err := SaveShard(shardInfo)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	shards, err := GetKeyspaceShardNames("ks1")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, shards, 1)
+
+	// test a staletime before save causes no delete
+	require.NoError(t, DeleteStaleKeyspaceShards("ks1", time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)))
+	shards, err = GetKeyspaceShardNames("ks1")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, shards, 1)
+
+	// test statetime of now deletes everything
+	require.NoError(t, DeleteStaleKeyspaceShards("ks1", time.Now()))
+	shards, err = GetKeyspaceShardNames("ks1")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, shards, 0)
+}