diff --git a/include/sdb/sdb.h b/include/sdb/sdb.h
index 1d0fc7f..750637a 100644
--- a/include/sdb/sdb.h
+++ b/include/sdb/sdb.h
@@ -178,7 +178,6 @@ SDB_API char *sdb_querys(Sdb* s, char *buf, size_t len, const char *cmd);
 SDB_API char *sdb_querysf(Sdb* s, char *buf, size_t buflen, const char *fmt, ...);
 SDB_API int sdb_query_file(Sdb *s, const char* file);
 SDB_API bool sdb_exists(Sdb*, const char *key);
-SDB_API bool sdb_remove(Sdb*, const char *key, ut32 cas);
 SDB_API int sdb_unset(Sdb*, const char *key, ut32 cas);
 SDB_API int sdb_nunset(Sdb*, ut64 nkey, ut32 cas);
 SDB_API int sdb_unset_like(Sdb *s, const char *k);
diff --git a/src/sdb.c b/src/sdb.c
index 2a134e7..7e82656 100644
--- a/src/sdb.c
+++ b/src/sdb.c
@@ -306,12 +306,9 @@ SDB_API int sdb_unset(Sdb* s, const char *key, ut32 cas) {
 }
 
 SDB_API int sdb_nunset(Sdb* s, ut64 nkey, ut32 cas) {
-	return sdb_nset (s, nkey, "", cas);
-}
-
-/* remove from memory */
-SDB_API bool sdb_remove(Sdb *s, const char *key, ut32 cas) {
-	return sdb_ht_delete (s->ht, key);
+	char buf[SDB_NUM_BUFSZ];
+	const char *key = sdb_itoa (nkey, 16, buf, sizeof (buf));
+	return sdb_unset (s, key, cas);
 }
 
 // alias for '-key=str'.. '+key=str' concats
@@ -905,7 +902,7 @@ SDB_API bool sdb_sync(Sdb* s) {
 				const char *kvv = sdbkv_value (kv);
 				if (kvv && *kvv && !kv->expire) {
 					if (sdb_disk_insert (s, sdbkv_key (kv), sdbkv_value (kv))) {
-						sdb_remove (s, sdbkv_key (kv), 0);
+						sdb_ht_delete (s->ht, sdbkv_key (kv));
 					}
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/test/syncget.c b/test/syncget.c
index 2cc180e..1781074 100644
--- a/test/syncget.c
+++ b/test/syncget.c
@@ -14,10 +14,31 @@ int main() {
 	v = sdb_const_get (s, "foo", NULL);
 	if (v && !strcmp ("bar",  v)) {
 		eprintf ("OK syncget\n");
+	} else {
+		eprintf ("ERROR syncget: Keys not accessible after sync\n");
 		sdb_free (s);
-		return 0;
+		unlink (DBFILE);
+		return 1;
 	}
-	eprintf ("ERROR syncget: Keys not accessible after sync\n");
+	sdb_unset (s, "foo", 0);
+	v = sdb_const_get (s, "foo", NULL);
+	if (v) {
+		eprintf ("ERROR syncget: Unset key still accessible before sync\n");
+		sdb_free (s);
+		unlink (DBFILE);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	sdb_sync (s);
 	sdb_free (s);
-	return 1;
+	s = sdb_new (".", DBFILE, 0);
+	v = sdb_const_get (s, "foo", NULL);
+	if (v) {
+		eprintf ("ERROR syncget: Unset key still accessible after reopen\n");
+		sdb_free (s);
+		unlink (DBFILE);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	sdb_free (s);
+	unlink (DBFILE);
+	return 0;
 }