diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
index 40711bff05..b9ef25fcb7 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
@@ -562,21 +562,9 @@ private[akka] class PersistentShard(
   }
 
   override def receiveCommand: Receive = ({
-    case SaveSnapshotSuccess(m) ⇒
+    case e: SaveSnapshotSuccess ⇒
       log.debug("PersistentShard snapshot saved successfully")
-      /*
-       * delete old events but keep the latest around because
-       *
-       * it's not safe to delete all events immediately because snapshots are typically stored with a weaker consistency
-       * level which means that a replay might "see" the deleted events before it sees the stored snapshot,
-       * i.e. it will use an older snapshot and then not replay the full sequence of events
-       *
-       * for debugging if something goes wrong in production it's very useful to be able to inspect the events
-       */
-      val deleteToSequenceNr = m.sequenceNr - keepNrOfBatches * snapshotAfter
-      if (deleteToSequenceNr > 0) {
-        deleteMessages(deleteToSequenceNr)
-      }
+      internalDeleteMessagesBeforeSnapshot(e, keepNrOfBatches, snapshotAfter)
 
     case SaveSnapshotFailure(_, reason) ⇒
       log.warning("PersistentShard snapshot failure: [{}]", reason.getMessage)
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardCoordinator.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardCoordinator.scala
index 8dc81bcdaf..50e47ba2ba 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardCoordinator.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ShardCoordinator.scala
@@ -874,21 +874,9 @@ class PersistentShardCoordinator(typeName: String, settings: ClusterShardingSett
   }: Receive).orElse[Any, Unit](receiveTerminated).orElse[Any, Unit](receiveSnapshotResult)
 
   def receiveSnapshotResult: Receive = {
-    case SaveSnapshotSuccess(m) ⇒
+    case e: SaveSnapshotSuccess ⇒
       log.debug("Persistent snapshot saved successfully")
-      /*
-       * delete old events but keep the latest around because
-       *
-       * it's not safe to delete all events immediate because snapshots are typically stored with a weaker consistency
-       * level which means that a replay might "see" the deleted events before it sees the stored snapshot,
-       * i.e. it will use an older snapshot and then not replay the full sequence of events
-       *
-       * for debugging if something goes wrong in production it's very useful to be able to inspect the events
-       */
-      val deleteToSequenceNr = m.sequenceNr - keepNrOfBatches * snapshotAfter
-      if (deleteToSequenceNr > 0) {
-        deleteMessages(deleteToSequenceNr)
-      }
+      internalDeleteMessagesBeforeSnapshot(e, keepNrOfBatches, snapshotAfter)
 
     case SaveSnapshotFailure(_, reason) ⇒
       log.warning("Persistent snapshot failure: {}", reason.getMessage)
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.21.backwards.excludes b/akka-persistence/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.21.backwards.excludes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e14f18a73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.21.backwards.excludes
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# #26451 Consolidate duplicate persistence sharding function
+ProblemFilters.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.Eventsourced.internalDeleteMessagesBeforeSnapshot")
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala
index 533574fb70..d6fe156f79 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/Eventsourced.scala
@@ -442,6 +442,29 @@ private[persistence] trait Eventsourced extends Snapshotter with PersistenceStas
         s"toSequenceNr [$toSequenceNr] must be less than or equal to lastSequenceNr [$lastSequenceNr]"), toSequenceNr)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * INTERNAL API.
+   * An [[Eventsourced]] actor can request cleanup by deleting either a range of, or all persistent events.
+   * For example, on successful snapshot completion, delete messages within a configurable `snapshotAfter`
+   * range that are less than or equal to the given [[SnapshotMetadata.sequenceNr]]
+   * (provided the [[SnapshotMetadata.sequenceNr]] is <= to [[Eventsourced#lastSequenceNr]]).
+   *
+   * Or delete all by using `Long.MaxValue` as the `toSequenceNr`
+   * {{{ m.copy(sequenceNr = Long.MaxValue) }}}
+   */
+  @InternalApi private[akka] def internalDeleteMessagesBeforeSnapshot(
+    e:               SaveSnapshotSuccess,
+    keepNrOfBatches: Int,
+    snapshotAfter:   Int): Unit = {
+    /* Delete old events but keep the latest around
+      1. It's not safe to delete all events immediately because snapshots are typically stored with
+         a weaker consistency level. A replay might "see" the deleted events before it sees the stored
+         snapshot, i.e. it could use an older snapshot and not replay the full sequence of events
+      2. If there is a production failure, it's useful to be able to inspect the events while debugging */
+    val sequenceNr = e.metadata.sequenceNr - keepNrOfBatches * snapshotAfter
+    if (sequenceNr > 0) deleteMessages(sequenceNr)
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns `true` if this persistent actor is currently recovering.
    */