diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/FileCleanupStrategy.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/FileCleanupStrategy.java
index b55280a6537f..dd92d33cda79 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/FileCleanupStrategy.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/FileCleanupStrategy.java
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ public abstract void cleanFiles(
               "manifest_length",
               "partition_spec_id",
               "added_snapshot_id",
-              "deleted_data_files_count");
+              "added_files_count",
+              "deleted_files_count");
 
   protected CloseableIterable<ManifestFile> readManifests(Snapshot snapshot) {
     if (snapshot.manifestListLocation() != null) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRemoveSnapshots.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRemoveSnapshots.java
index 384b7132ef76..89cb242d8f9d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRemoveSnapshots.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestRemoveSnapshots.java
@@ -2207,4 +2207,110 @@ private static PartitionStatisticsFile reusePartitionStatsFile(
   private static void commitPartitionStats(Table table, PartitionStatisticsFile statisticsFile) {
     table.updatePartitionStatistics().setPartitionStatistics(statisticsFile).commit();
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Verifies that during incremental cleanup, manifests containing only added/existing files are
+   * not opened for scanning. Before the fix, the manifest list projection used the wrong field name
+   * "deleted_data_files_count" causing hasDeletedFiles() to always return true and every manifest
+   * to be unnecessarily scanned.
+   */
+  @TestTemplate
+  public void testAppendOnlyManifestsNotScannedDuringCleanup() {
+    // This optimization is specific to incremental cleanup
+    assumeThat(incrementalCleanup).isTrue();
+
+    TestTables.LocalFileIO spyFileIO = Mockito.spy(new TestTables.LocalFileIO());
+    String tableName = "testAppendOnlyManifests";
+    Table testTable =
+        TestTables.create(
+            tableDir,
+            tableName,
+            SCHEMA,
+            SPEC,
+            SortOrder.unsorted(),
+            formatVersion,
+            new TestTables.TestTableOperations(tableName, tableDir, spyFileIO));
+
+    // Append FILE_A: manifest has added_files_count=1, deleted_files_count=0
+    testTable.newAppend().appendFile(FILE_A).commit();
+    Snapshot firstSnapshot = testTable.currentSnapshot();
+
+    // Collect manifest paths from the first snapshot (append-only manifests)
+    Set<String> appendOnlyManifestPaths =
+        firstSnapshot.allManifests(testTable.io()).stream()
+            .map(ManifestFile::path)
+            .collect(Collectors.toSet());
+
+    waitUntilAfter(firstSnapshot.timestampMillis());
+
+    // Append FILE_B
+    testTable.newAppend().appendFile(FILE_B).commit();
+    long tAfterCommits = waitUntilAfter(testTable.currentSnapshot().timestampMillis());
+
+    // Clear spy interactions before expiration so we only track expiration reads
+    Mockito.clearInvocations(spyFileIO);
+
+    Set<String> deletedFiles = Sets.newHashSet();
+    removeSnapshots(testTable)
+        .expireOlderThan(tAfterCommits)
+        .deleteWith(deletedFiles::add)
+        .commit();
+
+    // No data files should be deleted since all manifests only have added files
+    assertThat(deletedFiles)
+        .as("No data files should be deleted for append-only snapshots")
+        .noneMatch(f -> f.endsWith(".parquet"));
+
+    // Verify that the append-only manifests were NOT opened for entry scanning
+    for (String manifestPath : appendOnlyManifestPaths) {
+      Mockito.verify(spyFileIO, Mockito.never()).newInputFile(manifestPath);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Verifies that during incremental cleanup, manifests with deleted entries are properly scanned
+   * and the deleted data files are cleaned up.
+   */
+  @TestTemplate
+  public void testManifestsWithDeletesScannedDuringCleanup() {
+    // This optimization is specific to incremental cleanup
+    assumeThat(incrementalCleanup).isTrue();
+
+    TestTables.LocalFileIO spyFileIO = Mockito.spy(new TestTables.LocalFileIO());
+    String tableName = "testManifestsWithDeletes";
+    Table testTable =
+        TestTables.create(
+            tableDir,
+            tableName,
+            SCHEMA,
+            SPEC,
+            SortOrder.unsorted(),
+            formatVersion,
+            new TestTables.TestTableOperations(tableName, tableDir, spyFileIO));
+
+    // Append FILE_A and FILE_B
+    testTable.newAppend().appendFile(FILE_A).appendFile(FILE_B).commit();
+
+    waitUntilAfter(testTable.currentSnapshot().timestampMillis());
+
+    // Delete FILE_A: creates a manifest with deleted_files_count > 0
+    testTable.newDelete().deleteFile(FILE_A).commit();
+
+    waitUntilAfter(testTable.currentSnapshot().timestampMillis());
+
+    // Append FILE_C to keep the table active with a newer snapshot
+    testTable.newAppend().appendFile(FILE_C).commit();
+    long tAfterCommits = waitUntilAfter(testTable.currentSnapshot().timestampMillis());
+
+    Set<String> deletedFiles = Sets.newHashSet();
+    removeSnapshots(testTable)
+        .expireOlderThan(tAfterCommits)
+        .deleteWith(deletedFiles::add)
+        .commit();
+
+    // FILE_A should be deleted since it was removed in an expired ancestor snapshot
+    assertThat(deletedFiles)
+        .as("Deleted data file should be cleaned up during expiration")
+        .contains(FILE_A.location());
+  }
 }