diff --git a/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md b/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
index 403ff2c363..d41fef0a75 100644
--- a/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
@@ -188,19 +188,18 @@ Typesense URL example JSON before encoding:
 
 | Variable                                         | Description                                                       |       Default       | Services         |
 | :----------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------- | :-----------------: | :--------------- |
-| `MACHINE_LEARNING_MODEL_TTL`<sup>\*1</sup>       | Inactivity time (s) before a model is unloaded (disabled if <= 0) |         `0`         | machine learning |
+| `MACHINE_LEARNING_MODEL_TTL`                     | Inactivity time (s) before a model is unloaded (disabled if <= 0) |        `300`        | machine learning |
+| `MACHINE_LEARNING_MODEL_TTL_POLL_S`              | Interval (s) between checks for the model TTL (disabled if <= 0)  |        `10`         | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_CACHE_FOLDER`                  | Directory where models are downloaded                             |      `/cache`       | machine learning |
-| `MACHINE_LEARNING_REQUEST_THREADS`<sup>\*2</sup> | Thread count of the request thread pool (disabled if <= 0)        | number of CPU cores | machine learning |
+| `MACHINE_LEARNING_REQUEST_THREADS`<sup>\*1</sup> | Thread count of the request thread pool (disabled if <= 0)        | number of CPU cores | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_MODEL_INTER_OP_THREADS`        | Number of parallel model operations                               |         `1`         | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_MODEL_INTRA_OP_THREADS`        | Number of threads for each model operation                        |         `2`         | machine learning |
-| `MACHINE_LEARNING_WORKERS`<sup>\*3</sup>         | Number of worker processes to spawn                               |         `1`         | machine learning |
+| `MACHINE_LEARNING_WORKERS`<sup>\*2</sup>         | Number of worker processes to spawn                               |         `1`         | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_WORKER_TIMEOUT`                | Maximum time (s) of unresponsiveness before a worker is killed    |        `120`        | machine learning |
 
-\*1: This is an experimental feature. It may result in increased memory use over time when loading models repeatedly.
+\*1: It is recommended to begin with this parameter when changing the concurrency levels of the machine learning service and then tune the other ones.
 
-\*2: It is recommended to begin with this parameter when changing the concurrency levels of the machine learning service and then tune the other ones.
-
-\*3: Since each process duplicates models in memory, changing this is not recommended unless you have abundant memory to go around.
+\*2: Since each process duplicates models in memory, changing this is not recommended unless you have abundant memory to go around.
 
 :::info
 
diff --git a/machine-learning/app/config.py b/machine-learning/app/config.py
index 8870b8c0e8..fa4fefeb37 100644
--- a/machine-learning/app/config.py
+++ b/machine-learning/app/config.py
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ from .schemas import ModelType
 
 class Settings(BaseSettings):
     cache_folder: str = "/cache"
-    model_ttl: int = 0
+    model_ttl: int = 300
+    model_ttl_poll_s: int = 10
     host: str = "0.0.0.0"
     port: int = 3003
     workers: int = 1
diff --git a/machine-learning/app/main.py b/machine-learning/app/main.py
index e1d71e9fa2..2f6902760d 100644
--- a/machine-learning/app/main.py
+++ b/machine-learning/app/main.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import asyncio
+import gc
+import os
+import sys
 import threading
+import time
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 from typing import Any
 from zipfile import BadZipFile
@@ -34,7 +38,10 @@ def init_state() -> None:
     )
     # asyncio is a huge bottleneck for performance, so we use a thread pool to run blocking code
     app.state.thread_pool = ThreadPoolExecutor(settings.request_threads) if settings.request_threads > 0 else None
-    app.state.locks = {model_type: threading.Lock() for model_type in ModelType}
+    app.state.lock = threading.Lock()
+    app.state.last_called = None
+    if settings.model_ttl > 0 and settings.model_ttl_poll_s > 0:
+        asyncio.ensure_future(idle_shutdown_task())
     log.info(f"Initialized request thread pool with {settings.request_threads} threads.")
 
 
@@ -79,9 +86,9 @@ async def predict(
 
 
 async def run(model: InferenceModel, inputs: Any) -> Any:
+    app.state.last_called = time.time()
     if app.state.thread_pool is None:
         return model.predict(inputs)
-
     return await asyncio.get_running_loop().run_in_executor(app.state.thread_pool, model.predict, inputs)
 
 
@@ -90,7 +97,7 @@ async def load(model: InferenceModel) -> InferenceModel:
         return model
 
     def _load() -> None:
-        with app.state.locks[model.model_type]:
+        with app.state.lock:
             model.load()
 
     loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
@@ -113,3 +120,27 @@ async def load(model: InferenceModel) -> InferenceModel:
         else:
             await loop.run_in_executor(app.state.thread_pool, _load)
         return model
+
+
+async def idle_shutdown_task() -> None:
+    while True:
+        log.debug("Checking for inactivity...")
+        if app.state.last_called is not None and time.time() - app.state.last_called > settings.model_ttl:
+            log.info("Shutting down due to inactivity.")
+            loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+            for task in asyncio.all_tasks(loop):
+                if task is not asyncio.current_task():
+                    try:
+                        task.cancel()
+                    except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                        pass
+            sys.stderr.close()
+            sys.stdout.close()
+            sys.stdout = sys.stderr = open(os.devnull, "w")
+            try:
+                await app.state.model_cache.cache.clear()
+                gc.collect()
+                loop.stop()
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                pass
+        await asyncio.sleep(settings.model_ttl_poll_s)