diff --git a/tests/test_clear_failures.py b/tests/test_clear_failures.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..551b0cf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_clear_failures.py
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+# Copyright 2025 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
+# Copyright 2025 The TransferQueue Team
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""All-shard cleanup controls with live payloads and real controller ownership."""
+
+import asyncio
+import pickle
+from uuid import uuid4
+
+import pytest
+import ray
+import torch
+from tensordict import TensorDict
+
+from transfer_queue.client import TransferQueueClient
+from transfer_queue.controller import TransferQueueController
+from transfer_queue.storage.simple_storage import SimpleStorageUnit
+from transfer_queue.utils.zmq_utils import ZMQMessage, ZMQRequestType
+
+
+@ray.remote(num_cpus=1)
+class RejectingClearUnit(SimpleStorageUnit.__ray_metadata__.modified_class):
+    reject_clear = False
+
+    def set_clear_failure(self, enabled):
+        self.reject_clear = enabled
+
+    def _handle_clear(self, request):
+        if self.reject_clear:
+            return ZMQMessage.create(
+                request_type=ZMQRequestType.CLEAR_DATA_ERROR,
+                sender_id=self.storage_unit_id,
+                body={"message": "intentional live-shard clear failure"},
+            )
+        return super()._handle_clear(request)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def ray_services():
+    assert not ray.is_initialized(), "requires a test-owned local Ray instance"
+    ray.init(
+        address="local",
+        num_cpus=4,
+        num_gpus=0,
+        include_dashboard=False,
+        object_store_memory=256 * 1024 * 1024,
+        namespace="clear-" + uuid4().hex,
+    )
+    yield
+    ray.shutdown()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def queue(ray_services):
+    controller = TransferQueueController.remote(polling_mode=True)
+    units = [RejectingClearUnit.remote(config={"num_data_storage_units": 2}) for _ in range(2)]
+    infos = ray.get([controller.get_zmq_server_info.remote(), *[unit.get_zmq_server_info.remote() for unit in units]])
+    client = TransferQueueClient(client_id="clear-" + uuid4().hex, controller_info=infos[0])
+    client.initialize_storage_manager("SimpleStorage", {"zmq_info": {info.id: info for info in infos[1:]}})
+    try:
+        yield client, controller, units, infos[1:]
+    finally:
+        client.close()
+        try:
+            ray.get([unit.shutdown.remote() for unit in units], timeout=10)
+        finally:
+            for unit in units:
+                ray.kill(unit, no_restart=True)
+            ray.kill(controller, no_restart=True)
+
+
+def _snapshot(client, path):
+    client.save_controller_checkpoint(str(path))
+    return pickle.loads(path.read_bytes())
+
+
+def _put(client):
+    return client.put(TensorDict({"value": torch.tensor([[11], [22]])}, [2]), partition_id="partial")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("operation", ["samples", "partition"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("failed_position", [0, 1])
+def test_failed_live_shard_clear_keeps_ownership_and_settles_survivor(queue, tmp_path, operation, failed_position):
+    client, _, units, infos = queue
+    meta = _put(client)
+    assert len(meta.global_indexes) == 2
+    ray.get(units[failed_position].set_clear_failure.remote(True))
+    if operation == "samples":
+        clear = lambda: client.clear_samples(meta)
+    else:
+        clear = lambda: client.clear_partition("partial")
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="intentional live-shard clear failure"):
+        clear()
+
+    state = _snapshot(client, tmp_path / "failed.pkl")
+    owned = set(meta.global_indexes)
+    assert owned.issubset(state["index_manager"]["allocated_indexes"])
+    assert not owned.intersection(state["index_manager"]["reusable_indexes"])
+    assert state["partitions"]["partial"].global_indexes == owned
+    survivor = units[1 - failed_position]
+    metrics = ray.get(survivor._handle_get_metrics.remote()).body
+    assert metrics["active_keys"] == 0
+    failed_id = infos[failed_position].id
+    group = client.storage_manager._group_by_hash(meta.global_indexes)[failed_id]
+    _, values = asyncio.run(
+        client.storage_manager._get_from_single_storage_unit(
+            group.global_indexes, ["value"], target_storage_unit=failed_id
+        )
+    )
+    assert [v.item() for v in values["value"]] == [11 if failed_position == 0 else 22]
+
+    # Retry is idempotent for the already-cleared shard and releases ownership only on success.
+    ray.get(units[failed_position].set_clear_failure.remote(False))
+    clear()
+    state = _snapshot(client, tmp_path / "success.pkl")
+    assert not owned.intersection(state["index_manager"]["allocated_indexes"])
+    assert owned.issubset(state["index_manager"]["reusable_indexes"])
+    assert all(ray.get(unit._handle_get_metrics.remote()).body["active_keys"] == 0 for unit in units)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("operation", ["samples", "partition"])
+def test_successful_all_shard_clear_releases_ownership(queue, tmp_path, operation):
+    client, _, units, _ = queue
+    meta = _put(client)
+    assert [sample.item() for sample in client.get_data(meta)["value"].unbind()] == [11, 22]
+    if operation == "samples":
+        client.clear_samples(meta)
+    else:
+        client.clear_partition("partial")
+    state = _snapshot(client, tmp_path / "cleared.pkl")
+    assert not set(meta.global_indexes).intersection(state["index_manager"]["allocated_indexes"])
+    assert set(meta.global_indexes).issubset(state["index_manager"]["reusable_indexes"])
+    assert all(ray.get(unit._handle_get_metrics.remote()).body["active_keys"] == 0 for unit in units)
diff --git a/transfer_queue/storage/managers/simple_storage_manager.py b/transfer_queue/storage/managers/simple_storage_manager.py
index c89d1cfb..c4c99fe5 100644
--- a/transfer_queue/storage/managers/simple_storage_manager.py
+++ b/transfer_queue/storage/managers/simple_storage_manager.py
@@ -717,9 +717,12 @@ async def clear_data(self, metadata: BatchMeta) -> None:
 
         results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True)
 
-        for i, result in enumerate(results):
-            if isinstance(result, Exception):
-                logger.error(f"[{self.storage_manager_id}]: Error in clear operation task {i}: {result}")
+        for su_id, result in zip(routing, results, strict=True):
+            if isinstance(result, BaseException):
+                # Keep controller ownership until every physical clear has succeeded.
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    f"[{self.storage_manager_id}]: Failed to clear storage unit {su_id}: {result}"
+                ) from result
 
     @with_storage_unit_socket
     async def _clear_single_storage_unit(self, global_indexes, target_storage_unit=None, socket=None):