diff --git a/pkg/nfd-topology-gc/nfd-nrt-gc.go b/pkg/nfd-topology-gc/nfd-nrt-gc.go
index 31d6dd573d..e7911e2a52 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-topology-gc/nfd-nrt-gc.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-topology-gc/nfd-nrt-gc.go
@@ -145,6 +145,9 @@ func (n *topologyGC) runGC() {
 
 // periodicGC runs garbage collector at every gcPeriod to make sure we haven't missed any node
 func (n *topologyGC) periodicGC(gcPeriod time.Duration) {
+	// Do initial round of garbage collection at startup time
+	n.runGC()
+
 	gcTrigger := time.NewTicker(gcPeriod)
 	defer gcTrigger.Stop()
 	for {
@@ -171,8 +174,6 @@ func (n *topologyGC) run() error {
 	n.factory.Start(n.stopChan)
 	n.factory.WaitForCacheSync(n.stopChan)
 
-	n.runGC()
-
 	return nil
 }