diff --git a/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller.go b/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller.go
index 6354f35abe..92b35db789 100644
--- a/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller.go
+++ b/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller.go
@@ -417,8 +417,10 @@ func (c *ClusterObjectSetReconciler) delete(ctx context.Context, cos *ocv1.Clust
 func (c *ClusterObjectSetReconciler) archive(ctx context.Context, revisionEngine RevisionEngine, cos *ocv1.ClusterObjectSet, revision boxcutter.RevisionBuilder) (ctrl.Result, error) {
 	tdres, err := revisionEngine.Teardown(ctx, revision, machinerytypes.WithObserveAfterIncomplete{})
 	if err != nil {
-		// Transient teardown error: leave the Ready condition unchanged and return
-		// the error for rate-limited backoff.
+		// Teardown is still in progress: surface Archiving so the status reflects that
+		// cleanup has not completed (never Archived, which the deployment GC treats as
+		// torn-down), then return the error for rate-limited backoff.
+		markAsArchiving(cos)
 		return ctrl.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("error archiving revision: %v", err)
 	}
 	// Set object counts
diff --git a/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller_test.go b/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller_test.go
index f5e830526a..51f3c8502d 100644
--- a/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/object-controller/controllers/clusterobjectset_controller_test.go
@@ -1299,7 +1299,7 @@ func Test_ClusterObjectSetReconciler_Reconcile_ArchivalAndDeletion(t *testing.T)
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name:           "return error and leave Ready untouched when archived revision teardown fails",
+			name:           "set Ready:False:Archiving and return error when archived revision teardown fails",
 			revisionResult: newMockRevisionResult(mockCtrl, revisionResultConfig{}),
 			existingObjs: func() []client.Object {
 				ext := newTestClusterExtension()
@@ -1322,9 +1322,13 @@ func Test_ClusterObjectSetReconciler_Reconcile_ArchivalAndDeletion(t *testing.T)
 					Name: clusterObjectSetName,
 				}, rev)
 				require.NoError(t, err)
-				// A teardown error is transient: the error is returned for backoff and the
-				// Ready condition is left untouched (absent here).
-				require.Nil(t, meta.FindStatusCondition(rev.Status.Conditions, ocv1.ClusterObjectSetTypeReady))
+				// A teardown error means cleanup is still in progress: the error is returned
+				// for backoff and Ready reports Archiving (never Archived, which the deployment
+				// GC would treat as fully torn down).
+				cond := meta.FindStatusCondition(rev.Status.Conditions, ocv1.ClusterObjectSetTypeReady)
+				require.NotNil(t, cond)
+				require.Equal(t, metav1.ConditionFalse, cond.Status)
+				require.Equal(t, ocv1.ClusterObjectSetReasonArchiving, cond.Reason)
 
 				// Finalizer should still be present
 				require.Contains(t, rev.Finalizers, "olm.operatorframework.io/teardown")