diff --git a/aiida/manage/external/rmq.py b/aiida/manage/external/rmq.py
index 8bfaf100f0..d7eabb5d6d 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/external/rmq.py
+++ b/aiida/manage/external/rmq.py
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 ###########################################################################
 # pylint: disable=cyclic-import
 """Components to communicate tasks to RabbitMQ."""
+import asyncio
 from collections.abc import Mapping
+import gc
 import logging
 
 from kiwipy import communications, Future
@@ -220,4 +222,10 @@ async def _continue(self, communicator, pid, nowait, tag=None):
             LOGGER.exception('failed to serialize the result for process<%d>', pid)
             raise
 
+        # before returning we ensure the garbage collection runs, to clear any memory used by the task
+        await asyncio.sleep(1)  # allow other async tasks to complete first
+        del node
+        del result
+        gc.collect()
+
         return serialized