diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 66067f4..0f36ccf 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ P2: security: per-origin rate limiting
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-13 the unused cache lifetime is removed (closes #69):
+  `CacheConfig.CacheTTL`, which pixad set to `DefaultCacheTTL` (24 hours), was
+  never read, so cached images never expired. The field and the constant are
+  removed. Cached source and transformed images stay until eviction removes them
+  to keep the cache within `cache_max_bytes`.
 - 2026-10-12 per-client limit on the image routes (closes #236): the new setting
   `image_requests_per_minute` (`PIXA_IMAGE_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE`), default 600,
   is how many `GET` and `HEAD` requests one client may send to `/v1/image/` and
diff --git a/internal/handlers/handlers.go b/internal/handlers/handlers.go
index 6405d08..297ba2d 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/handlers.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/handlers.go
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ func (s *Handlers) WaitForProcessing(ctx context.Context) int {
 func newCacheConfig(cfg *config.Config, log *slog.Logger) imgcache.CacheConfig {
 	return imgcache.CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:           cfg.StateDir,
-		CacheTTL:           imgcache.DefaultCacheTTL,
 		NegativeTTL:        imgcache.DefaultNegativeTTL,
 		MaxBytes:           cfg.CacheMaxBytes,
 		UseDefaultMaxBytes: !cfg.CacheMaxBytesExplicit,
diff --git a/internal/handlers/handlers_internal_test.go b/internal/handlers/handlers_internal_test.go
index 35c1522..f396a05 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/handlers_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/handlers_internal_test.go
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ func setupTestHandler(t *testing.T) *testFixtures {
 
 	cache, err := imgcache.NewCache(db, imgcache.CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    tmpDir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/handlers/image_cache_control_internal_test.go b/internal/handlers/image_cache_control_internal_test.go
index 7845df5..f4e65a5 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/image_cache_control_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/image_cache_control_internal_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ func newSignedHostServer(
 
 	cache, err := imgcache.NewCache(setupTestDB(t), imgcache.CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    t.TempDir(),
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/handlers/image_errors_internal_test.go b/internal/handlers/image_errors_internal_test.go
index 0bb3fea..fbbcf6f 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/image_errors_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/image_errors_internal_test.go
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ func newImageRoute(t *testing.T, fetcher httpfetcher.Fetcher) http.Handler {
 
 	cache, err := imgcache.NewCache(setupTestDB(t), imgcache.CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    t.TempDir(),
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/handlers/referer_blocklist_internal_test.go b/internal/handlers/referer_blocklist_internal_test.go
index 9235eb1..86f0c32 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/referer_blocklist_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/referer_blocklist_internal_test.go
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ func newRefererRoutes(t *testing.T) (http.Handler, *Handlers, *countingFetcher)
 
 	cache, err := imgcache.NewCache(setupTestDB(t), imgcache.CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    t.TempDir(),
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/cache.go b/internal/imgcache/cache.go
index ff27456..1f73019 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/cache.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/cache.go
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ const metaCacheSize = 10000
 // CacheConfig holds cache configuration.
 type CacheConfig struct {
 	StateDir    string
-	CacheTTL    time.Duration
 	NegativeTTL time.Duration
 
 	// MaxBytes is the disk cache size limit in bytes that eviction
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/cache_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/cache_internal_test.go
index b4026f5..6659b93 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/cache_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/cache_internal_test.go
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ func setupTestCache(t *testing.T) *Cache {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    tmpDir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -241,7 +240,6 @@ func TestCache_NegativeCacheExpiry(t *testing.T) {
 	// Very short negative TTL for testing
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    tmpDir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 1 * time.Millisecond,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
index af91ac5..7d54df1 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ func newEvictionTestCache(t *testing.T, maxBytes int64) (*Cache, string) {
 	// backwards compatibility with existing fixtures.
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:         tmpDir,
-		CacheTTL:         time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL:      5 * time.Minute,
 		MaxBytes:         maxBytes,
 		DisableDiskCache: maxBytes == 0,
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/module.go b/internal/imgcache/module.go
index 266e398..81d329a 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/module.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/module.go
@@ -4,6 +4,5 @@ import "time"
 
 // CacheConfig defaults.
 const (
-	DefaultCacheTTL    = 24 * time.Hour
 	DefaultNegativeTTL = 5 * time.Minute
 )
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/negative_cache_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/negative_cache_internal_test.go
index 856f6ae..f2c2115 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/negative_cache_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/negative_cache_internal_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ func TestNegativeCache_StoreAndCheck(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    dir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -63,7 +62,6 @@ func TestNegativeCache_Expired(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    dir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 1 * time.Millisecond, // very short TTL
 	})
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/stats_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/stats_internal_test.go
index 94ee241..2fe9dbb 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/stats_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/stats_internal_test.go
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ func TestStats_HitRateIsRatio(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    dir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -91,7 +90,6 @@ func TestStats_ZeroCounts(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    dir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -120,7 +118,6 @@ func TestStats_LogsFailedCountQueries(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    t.TempDir(),
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 		Logger:      slog.New(slog.NewJSONHandler(&logBuf, nil)),
 	})
@@ -162,7 +159,6 @@ func TestIncrementStats_LogsFailedUpdates(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    t.TempDir(),
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 		Logger:      slog.New(slog.NewJSONHandler(&logBuf, nil)),
 	})
@@ -232,7 +228,6 @@ func TestStats_DisabledCacheReportsNoItems(t *testing.T) {
 
 	disabled, err := NewCache(enabled.db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:         t.TempDir(),
-		CacheTTL:         time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL:      5 * time.Minute,
 		DisableDiskCache: true,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/testutil_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/testutil_internal_test.go
index b29f750..326537f 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/testutil_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/testutil_internal_test.go
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@ func SetupTestService(
 
 	cache, err := NewCache(db, CacheConfig{
 		StateDir:    tmpDir,
-		CacheTTL:    time.Hour,
 		NegativeTTL: 5 * time.Minute,
 	})
 	if err != nil {