diff --git a/src/ai/backend/manager/api/vfolder.py b/src/ai/backend/manager/api/vfolder.py
index 438130656a..21b53182c1 100644
--- a/src/ai/backend/manager/api/vfolder.py
+++ b/src/ai/backend/manager/api/vfolder.py
@@ -100,9 +100,8 @@
     vfolder_status_map,
     vfolders,
 )
-from ..models.utils import execute_with_retry, execute_with_txn_retry
+from ..models.utils import execute_with_retry
 from ..models.vfolder import (
-    VFolderPermissionRow,
     delete_vfolder_relation_rows,
 )
 from .auth import admin_required, auth_required, superadmin_required
@@ -2259,8 +2258,7 @@ async def _delete(
         )
 
     vfolder_row_ids = (entry["id"],)
-    async with root_ctx.db.connect() as db_conn:
-        await delete_vfolder_relation_rows(db_conn, root_ctx.db.begin_session, vfolder_row_ids)
+    await delete_vfolder_relation_rows(root_ctx.db, vfolder_row_ids)
     await update_vfolder_status(
         root_ctx.db,
         vfolder_row_ids,
diff --git a/src/ai/backend/manager/models/vfolder.py b/src/ai/backend/manager/models/vfolder.py
index 686de10463..2b5a4648be 100644
--- a/src/ai/backend/manager/models/vfolder.py
+++ b/src/ai/backend/manager/models/vfolder.py
@@ -4,22 +4,17 @@
 import logging
 import os.path
 import uuid
-from collections.abc import Container, Iterable, Mapping
-from contextlib import AbstractAsyncContextManager as AbstractAsyncCtxMgr
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from collections.abc import Iterable, Mapping
 from datetime import datetime
 from pathlib import PurePosixPath
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Any,
-    Callable,
     Final,
     List,
     NamedTuple,
     Optional,
     Sequence,
-    TypeAlias,
-    cast,
 )
 
 import aiohttp
@@ -88,7 +83,7 @@
 from .minilang.ordering import OrderSpecItem, QueryOrderParser
 from .minilang.queryfilter import FieldSpecItem, QueryFilterParser, enum_field_getter
 from .user import UserRole, UserRow
-from .utils import ExtendedAsyncSAEngine, execute_with_retry, execute_with_txn_retry, sql_json_merge
+from .utils import ExtendedAsyncSAEngine, execute_with_retry, sql_json_merge
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from ..api.context import BackgroundTaskManager
@@ -446,7 +441,6 @@ class VFolderRow(Base):
         back_populates="vfolder_rows",
         primaryjoin="GroupRow.id == foreign(VFolderRow.group)",
     )
-    permission_rows = relationship(VFolderPermissionRow, back_populates="vfolder_row")
     invitation_rows = relationship(VFolderInvitationRow, back_populates="vfolder_row")
 
     @classmethod
@@ -1178,20 +1172,20 @@ async def _delete_vfolder_invitation_rows(
     db_session: SASession,
     vfolder_row_ids: Iterable[uuid.UUID],
 ) -> None:
-    stmt = sa.delete(VFolderPermissionRow).where(VFolderPermissionRow.vfolder.in_(vfolder_row_ids))
+    stmt = sa.delete(vfolder_permissions).where(vfolder_permissions.c.vfolder.in_(vfolder_row_ids))
     await db_session.execute(stmt)
 
 
 async def delete_vfolder_relation_rows(
-    db_conn: SAConnection,
-    begin_session: Callable[..., AbstractAsyncCtxMgr[SASession]],
+    db_engine: ExtendedAsyncSAEngine,
     vfolder_row_ids: Iterable[uuid.UUID],
 ) -> None:
-    async def _delete(db_session: SASession) -> None:
-        await _delete_vfolder_invitation_rows(db_session, vfolder_row_ids)
-        await _delete_vfolder_permission_rows(db_session, vfolder_row_ids)
+    async def _delete() -> None:
+        async with db_engine.begin_session() as db_session:
+            await _delete_vfolder_invitation_rows(db_session, vfolder_row_ids)
+            await _delete_vfolder_permission_rows(db_session, vfolder_row_ids)
 
-    await execute_with_txn_retry(_delete, begin_session, db_conn)
+    await execute_with_retry(_delete)
 
 
 async def initiate_vfolder_deletion(
@@ -1209,8 +1203,7 @@ async def initiate_vfolder_deletion(
     elif vfolder_info_len == 1:
         vfolders.c.id == vfolder_ids[0]
 
-    async with db_engine.connect() as db_conn:
-        await delete_vfolder_relation_rows(db_conn, db_engine.begin_session, vfolder_ids)
+    await delete_vfolder_relation_rows(db_engine, vfolder_ids)
     await update_vfolder_status(
         db_engine, vfolder_ids, VFolderOperationStatus.DELETE_ONGOING, do_log=False
     )