diff --git a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
index 27b723fae6a..ecaf4476246 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
@@ -172,14 +172,10 @@ class ProjectsController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def housekeeping
-    status = ::Projects::HousekeepingService.new(@project).execute
+    ::Projects::HousekeepingService.new(@project).execute
 
     respond_to do |format|
-      if status
-        flash[:notice] = "Housekeeping finished successfully."
-      else
-        flash[:alert] = "Housekeeping failed."
-      end
+      flash[:notice] = "Housekeeping successfully started."
       format.html { redirect_to project_path(@project) }
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/services/projects/housekeeping_service.rb b/app/services/projects/housekeeping_service.rb
index bea91b5f180..0db85ac2142 100644
--- a/app/services/projects/housekeeping_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/projects/housekeeping_service.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module Projects
     end
 
     def execute
-      gitlab_shell.gc(@project.path_with_namespace)
+      GitlabShellWorker.perform_async(:gc, @project.path_with_namespace)
     end
   end
 end