diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f9359f8b..d1b7e8c6 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -119,6 +119,8 @@ RUN echo "0 */6 * * * clamav /usr/bin/freshclam --quiet" > /etc/cron.d/clamav-fr
 COPY target/dovecot/auth-passwdfile.inc target/dovecot/??-*.conf /etc/dovecot/conf.d/
 COPY target/dovecot/scripts/quota-warning.sh /usr/local/bin/quota-warning.sh
 COPY target/dovecot/sieve/ /etc/dovecot/sieve/
+COPY target/dovecot/dovecot-purge.cron /etc/cron.d/dovecot-purge.disabled
+RUN chmod 0 /etc/cron.d/dovecot-purge.disabled
 WORKDIR /usr/share/dovecot
 # hadolint ignore=SC2016,SC2086
 RUN sed -i -e 's/include_try \/usr\/share\/dovecot\/protocols\.d/include_try \/etc\/dovecot\/protocols\.d/g' /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf && \
diff --git a/target/dovecot/dovecot-purge.cron b/target/dovecot/dovecot-purge.cron
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ead11b28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/dovecot/dovecot-purge.cron
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#
+#  Dovecot purge maintenance
+#
+# m h dom mon dow user	command
+38 2	* * *	root    doveadm purge -A
diff --git a/target/start-mailserver.sh b/target/start-mailserver.sh
index ae6e0b75..f2a5552f 100755
--- a/target/start-mailserver.sh
+++ b/target/start-mailserver.sh
@@ -543,9 +543,13 @@ function _setup_dovecot
 
   # set mail_location according to mailbox format
   case "${DOVECOT_MAILBOX_FORMAT}" in
-    sdbox|mdbox|maildir )
+    sdbox|mdbox )
       _notify 'inf' "Dovecot ${DOVECOT_MAILBOX_FORMAT} format configured"
       sed -i -e 's/^mail_location = .*$/mail_location = '"${DOVECOT_MAILBOX_FORMAT}"':\/var\/mail\/%d\/%n/g' /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf
+
+      _notify 'inf' "Enabling cron job for dbox purge"
+      mv /etc/cron.d/dovecot-purge.disabled /etc/cron.d/dovecot-purge
+      chmod 644 /etc/cron.d/dovecot-purge
       ;;
     * )
       _notify 'inf' "Dovecot maildir format configured (default)"