diff --git a/airflow-core/src/airflow/api/common/delete_dag.py b/airflow-core/src/airflow/api/common/delete_dag.py
index 0e9979762d82b..e32e8bb90f3b2 100644
--- a/airflow-core/src/airflow/api/common/delete_dag.py
+++ b/airflow-core/src/airflow/api/common/delete_dag.py
@@ -74,21 +74,17 @@ def delete_dag(dag_id: str, keep_records_in_log: bool = True, *, session: Sessio
     count: int = 0
     for model in models_for_deletion:
         if hasattr(model, "dag_id") and (not keep_records_in_log or model.__name__ != "Log"):
-            result: Result = session.execute(
-                delete(model).where(model.dag_id == dag_id).execution_options(synchronize_session="fetch")
-            )
+            result: Result = session.execute(delete(model).where(model.dag_id == dag_id))
             cursor_result = cast("CursorResult", result)
             count += cursor_result.rowcount
 
     # Delete entries in Import Errors table for a deleted Dag
     # This handles the case when the dag_id is changed in the file
     session.execute(
-        delete(ParseImportError)
-        .where(
+        delete(ParseImportError).where(
             ParseImportError.filename == dag.relative_fileloc,
             ParseImportError.bundle_name == dag.bundle_name,
         )
-        .execution_options(synchronize_session="fetch")
     )
 
     return count
diff --git a/airflow-core/tests/unit/api/common/test_delete_dag.py b/airflow-core/tests/unit/api/common/test_delete_dag.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..eea327bdfcdfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/airflow-core/tests/unit/api/common/test_delete_dag.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you 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.
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+import pytest
+from sqlalchemy import func, select
+
+from airflow.api.common.delete_dag import delete_dag
+from airflow.models import DagModel
+from airflow.providers.standard.operators.empty import EmptyOperator
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from airflow.serialization.definitions.dag import SerializedDAG
+
+    from tests_common.pytest_plugin import DagMaker
+
+pytestmark = [pytest.mark.db_test, pytest.mark.need_serialized_dag]
+
+DAG_ID = "dag_to_delete"
+
+
+def test_delete_dag_does_not_read_back_deleted_row_keys(dag_maker: DagMaker[SerializedDAG], session):
+    """
+    delete_dag must not ask the database for the keys of the rows it deletes.
+
+    Forcing SQLAlchemy's "fetch" synchronization strategy reads every deleted primary key
+    back, which costs memory proportional to the Dag's history. Backends with RETURNING
+    stream those keys back on the DELETE itself, and those without it (MySQL) run a
+    second full SELECT beforehand, so both shapes are asserted against here.
+    """
+    from sqlalchemy import event
+
+    import airflow.settings
+
+    with dag_maker(DAG_ID, session=session):
+        EmptyOperator(task_id="task")
+    dag_maker.create_dagrun()
+    session.commit()
+
+    executed_statements: list[str] = []
+
+    def capture(_conn, _cursor, statement, _parameters, _context, _executemany):
+        executed_statements.append(" ".join(statement.split()).upper())
+
+    event.listen(airflow.settings.engine, "before_cursor_execute", capture)
+    try:
+        delete_dag(DAG_ID, keep_records_in_log=False, session=session)
+        session.commit()
+    finally:
+        event.remove(airflow.settings.engine, "before_cursor_execute", capture)
+
+    deletes = [s for s in executed_statements if s.startswith("DELETE")]
+    assert deletes, "Expected delete_dag to issue DELETE statements"
+    assert [s for s in deletes if "RETURNING" in s] == [], "DELETEs must not read back deleted keys"
+
+    after_first_delete = executed_statements[executed_statements.index(deletes[0]) :]
+    assert [s for s in after_first_delete if s.startswith("SELECT")] == [], (
+        "No SELECT may precede a DELETE to collect the keys it is about to remove"
+    )
+
+    assert session.scalar(select(func.count()).select_from(DagModel).where(DagModel.dag_id == DAG_ID)) == 0