diff --git a/cozo-core/src/runtime/db.rs b/cozo-core/src/runtime/db.rs
index 8e3dc9f1..2815a797 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/runtime/db.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/runtime/db.rs
@@ -293,18 +293,18 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
         for payload in payloads {
             match payload {
                 TransactionPayload::Commit => {
+                    for (lower, upper) in cleanups {
+                        if let Err(err) = tx.store_tx.del_range_from_persisted(&lower, &upper) {
+                            eprintln!("{err:?}")
+                        }
+                    }
+
                     let _ = results.send(tx.commit_tx().map(|_| NamedRows::default()));
                     #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
                     if !callback_collector.is_empty() {
                         self.send_callbacks(callback_collector)
                     }
 
-                    for (lower, upper) in cleanups {
-                        if let Err(err) = self.db.del_range(&lower, &upper) {
-                            eprintln!("{err:?}")
-                        }
-                    }
-
                     break;
                 }
                 TransactionPayload::Abort => {
@@ -893,11 +893,14 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
                 &mut callback_collector,
             )?;
 
+            for (lower, upper) in cleanups {
+                tx.store_tx.del_range_from_persisted(&lower, &upper)?;
+            }
+
             if is_write {
                 tx.commit_tx()?;
             } else {
                 tx.commit_tx()?;
-                assert!(cleanups.is_empty(), "non-empty cleanups on read-only tx");
             }
         }
         #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
@@ -905,9 +908,6 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
             self.send_callbacks(callback_collector)
         }
 
-        for (lower, upper) in cleanups {
-            self.db.del_range(&lower, &upper)?;
-        }
         Ok(res)
     }
     fn explain_compiled(&self, strata: &[CompiledProgram]) -> Result<NamedRows> {
@@ -1168,19 +1168,17 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
                 let locks = self.obtain_relation_locks(rel_name_strs);
                 let _guards = locks.iter().map(|l| l.read().unwrap()).collect_vec();
                 let mut bounds = vec![];
-                {
-                    let mut tx = self.transact_write()?;
-                    for rs in rel_names {
-                        let bound = tx.destroy_relation(&rs)?;
-                        if !rs.is_temp_store_name() {
-                            bounds.extend(bound);
-                        }
+                let mut tx = self.transact_write()?;
+                for rs in rel_names {
+                    let bound = tx.destroy_relation(&rs)?;
+                    if !rs.is_temp_store_name() {
+                        bounds.extend(bound);
                     }
-                    tx.commit_tx()?;
                 }
                 for (lower, upper) in bounds {
-                    self.db.del_range(&lower, &upper)?;
+                    tx.store_tx.del_range_from_persisted(&lower, &upper)?;
                 }
+                tx.commit_tx()?;
                 Ok(NamedRows::new(
                     vec![STATUS_STR.to_string()],
                     vec![vec![DataValue::from(OK_STR)]],
@@ -1259,7 +1257,7 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
                 let mut tx = self.transact_write()?;
                 let bounds = tx.remove_index(&rel_name, &idx_name)?;
                 for (lower, upper) in bounds {
-                    self.db.del_range(&lower, &upper)?;
+                    tx.store_tx.del_range_from_persisted(&lower, &upper)?;
                 }
                 tx.commit_tx()?;
                 Ok(NamedRows::new(
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/runtime/imperative.rs b/cozo-core/src/runtime/imperative.rs
index a6673c03..8a6ffd74 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/runtime/imperative.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/runtime/imperative.rs
@@ -304,11 +304,14 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
                 },
             }
 
+            for (lower, upper) in cleanups {
+                tx.store_tx.del_range_from_persisted(&lower, &upper)?;
+            }
+
             if is_write {
                 tx.commit_tx()?;
             } else {
                 tx.commit_tx()?;
-                assert!(cleanups.is_empty(), "non-empty cleanups on read-only tx");
             }
         }
         #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
@@ -316,9 +319,6 @@ impl<'s, S: Storage<'s>> Db<S> {
             self.send_callbacks(callback_collector)
         }
 
-        for (lower, upper) in cleanups {
-            self.db.del_range(&lower, &upper)?;
-        }
         Ok(ret)
     }
 }
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/runtime/relation.rs b/cozo-core/src/runtime/relation.rs
index 58debecc..a44f7801 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/runtime/relation.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/runtime/relation.rs
@@ -664,7 +664,11 @@ impl<'a> SessionTx<'a> {
         let metadata = RelationHandle::decode(&found)?;
         Ok(metadata)
     }
-    pub(crate) fn describe_relation(&mut self, name: &str, description: SmartString<LazyCompact>) -> Result<()> {
+    pub(crate) fn describe_relation(
+        &mut self,
+        name: &str,
+        description: SmartString<LazyCompact>,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
         let mut meta = self.get_relation(name, true)?;
 
         meta.description = description;
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/runtime/tests.rs b/cozo-core/src/runtime/tests.rs
index 52082807..9e283141 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/runtime/tests.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/runtime/tests.rs
@@ -609,6 +609,8 @@ fn test_index() {
         .map(|row| row.as_array().unwrap()[5].clone())
         .collect_vec();
     assert!(joins.contains(&json!(":friends:rev")));
+    db.run_script("::index drop friends:rev", Default::default())
+        .unwrap();
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -948,7 +950,6 @@ fn test_fts_indexing() {
     }
 }
 
-
 #[test]
 fn test_lsh_indexing() {
     let db = DbInstance::new("mem", "", "").unwrap();
@@ -958,12 +959,12 @@ fn test_lsh_indexing() {
         r"?[k, v] <- [['a', 'hello world!'], ['b', 'the world is round']] :put a {k => v}",
         Default::default(),
     )
-        .unwrap();
+    .unwrap();
     db.run_script(
         r"::lsh create a:lsh {extractor: v, tokenizer: Simple, n_gram: 3, target_threshold: 0.3 }",
         Default::default(),
     )
-        .unwrap();
+    .unwrap();
     db.run_script(
         r"?[k, v] <- [
             ['b', 'the world is square!'],
@@ -973,8 +974,10 @@ fn test_lsh_indexing() {
         ] :put a {k => v}",
         Default::default(),
     )
+    .unwrap();
+    let res = db
+        .run_script("::columns a:lsh", Default::default())
         .unwrap();
-    let res = db.run_script("::columns a:lsh", Default::default()).unwrap();
     for row in res.into_json()["rows"].as_array().unwrap() {
         println!("{}", row);
     }
@@ -1019,6 +1022,8 @@ fn test_lsh_indexing() {
     for row in res.into_json()["rows"].as_array().unwrap() {
         println!("{}", row);
     }
+    db.run_script(r"::lsh drop a:lsh", Default::default())
+        .unwrap();
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -1142,7 +1147,9 @@ fn multi_index_vec() {
         "#,
         Default::default(),
     ).unwrap();
-    let res = db.run_script("::indices product", Default::default()).unwrap();
+    let res = db
+        .run_script("::indices product", Default::default())
+        .unwrap();
     for row in res.into_json()["rows"].as_array().unwrap() {
         println!("{}", row);
     }
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/mem.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/mem.rs
index a9dad332..d27cc9ba 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/mem.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/mem.rs
@@ -58,29 +58,6 @@ impl<'s> Storage<'s> for MemStorage {
         })
     }
 
-    fn del_range(&'s self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
-        let store = self.store.clone();
-        let lower_b = lower.to_vec();
-        let upper_b = upper.to_vec();
-        let closure = move || {
-            let keys = {
-                let rdr = store.read().unwrap();
-                rdr.range(lower_b..upper_b)
-                    .map(|kv| kv.0.clone())
-                    .collect_vec()
-            };
-            let mut wtr = store.write().unwrap();
-            for k in keys.iter() {
-                wtr.remove(k);
-            }
-        };
-        #[cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")]
-        closure();
-        #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
-        std::thread::spawn(closure);
-        Ok(())
-    }
-
     fn range_compact(&'s self, _lower: &[u8], _upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -149,6 +126,25 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for MemTx<'s> {
         }
     }
 
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        match self {
+            MemTx::Reader(_) => {
+                bail!("write in read transaction")
+            }
+            MemTx::Writer(ref mut wtr, _) => {
+                let keys = wtr
+                    .range(lower.to_vec()..upper.to_vec())
+                    .map(|kv| kv.0.clone())
+                    .collect_vec();
+                for k in keys.iter() {
+                    wtr.remove(k);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     fn exists(&self, key: &[u8], _for_update: bool) -> Result<bool> {
         Ok(match self {
             MemTx::Reader(rdr) => rdr.contains_key(key),
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/mod.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/mod.rs
index 4c53e3df..2cc421d7 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/mod.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/mod.rs
@@ -36,11 +36,6 @@ pub trait Storage<'s>: Send + Sync + Clone {
     /// Create a transaction object. Write ops will only be called when `write == true`.
     fn transact(&'s self, write: bool) -> Result<Self::Tx>;
 
-    /// Delete a range. It is ok to return immediately and do the deletion in
-    /// the background. It is guaranteed that no keys within the deleted range
-    /// will be accessed in any way by any transaction again.
-    fn del_range(&'s self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()>;
-
     /// Compact the key range. Can be a no-op if the storage engine does not
     /// have the concept of compaction.
     fn range_compact(&'s self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()>;
@@ -85,6 +80,9 @@ pub trait StoreTx<'s>: Sync {
     /// Delete a key-value pair from the storage.
     fn del(&mut self, key: &[u8]) -> Result<()>;
 
+    /// Delete a range from persisted data only.
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()>;
+
     /// Check if a key exists. If `for_update` is `true` (only possible in a write transaction),
     /// then the database needs to guarantee that `commit()` can only succeed if
     /// the key has not been modified outside the transaction.
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/rocks.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/rocks.rs
index 4c0ca9ec..2b973c0b 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/rocks.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/rocks.rs
@@ -134,10 +134,6 @@ impl Storage<'_> for RocksDbStorage {
         Ok(RocksDbTx { db_tx })
     }
 
-    fn del_range(&self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
-        Ok(self.db.range_del(lower, upper)?)
-    }
-
     fn range_compact(&self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
         self.db.range_compact(lower, upper).into_diagnostic()
     }
@@ -184,6 +180,19 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for RocksDbTx {
         Ok(self.db_tx.del(key)?)
     }
 
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        let mut inner = self.db_tx.iterator().upper_bound(upper).start();
+        inner.seek(lower);
+        while let Some(key) = inner.key()? {
+            if key >= upper {
+                break;
+            }
+            self.db_tx.del(key)?;
+            inner.next();
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     #[inline]
     fn exists(&self, key: &[u8], for_update: bool) -> Result<bool> {
         Ok(self.db_tx.exists(key, for_update)?)
@@ -242,7 +251,10 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for RocksDbTx {
         })
     }
 
-    fn range_count<'a>(&'a self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<usize> where 's: 'a {
+    fn range_count<'a>(&'a self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<usize>
+    where
+        's: 'a,
+    {
         let mut inner = self.db_tx.iterator().upper_bound(upper).start();
         inner.seek(lower);
         let mut count = 0;
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/sled.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/sled.rs
index 37b882db..3db3233f 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/sled.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/sled.rs
@@ -55,19 +55,6 @@ impl Storage<'_> for SledStorage {
         })
     }
 
-    fn del_range(&self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
-        let db = self.db.clone();
-        let lower_v = lower.to_vec();
-        let upper_v = upper.to_vec();
-        thread::spawn(move || -> Result<()> {
-            for k_res in db.range(lower_v..upper_v).keys() {
-                db.remove(k_res.into_diagnostic()?).into_diagnostic()?;
-            }
-            Ok(())
-        });
-        Ok(())
-    }
-
     fn range_compact(&self, _lower: &[u8], _upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -158,6 +145,17 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for SledTx {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        let to_del: Vec<_> = self
+            .range_scan(lower, upper)
+            .map_ok(|(k, v)| k)
+            .try_collect()?;
+        for k_res in to_del {
+            self.db.remove(&k_res)?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     #[inline]
     fn exists(&self, key: &[u8], _for_update: bool) -> Result<bool> {
         if let Some(changes) = &self.changes {
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/sqlite.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/sqlite.rs
index 9daa7348..2af9a7d6 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/sqlite.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/sqlite.rs
@@ -92,26 +92,6 @@ impl<'s> Storage<'s> for SqliteStorage {
         })
     }
 
-    fn del_range(&'_ self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
-        let lower_b = lower.to_vec();
-        let upper_b = upper.to_vec();
-        let query = r#"
-                delete from cozo where k >= ? and k < ?;
-            "#;
-        let lock = self.lock.clone();
-        let name = self.name.clone();
-        let closure = move || {
-            let _locked = lock.write().unwrap();
-            let conn = sqlite::open(&name).unwrap();
-            let mut statement = conn.prepare(query).unwrap();
-            statement.bind((1, &lower_b as &[u8])).unwrap();
-            statement.bind((2, &upper_b as &[u8])).unwrap();
-            while statement.next().unwrap() != State::Done {}
-        };
-        std::thread::spawn(closure);
-        Ok(())
-    }
-
     fn batch_put<'a>(
         &'a self,
         data: Box<dyn Iterator<Item = Result<(Vec<u8>, Vec<u8>)>> + 'a>,
@@ -155,7 +135,7 @@ const QUERIES: [&str; N_QUERIES] = [
     "select 1 from cozo where k = ?;",
     "select k, v from cozo where k >= ? and k < ? order by k;",
     "select k, v from cozo where k >= ? and k < ? order by k limit 1;",
-    "select count(*) from cozo where k >= ? and k < ?;"
+    "select count(*) from cozo where k >= ? and k < ?;",
 ];
 
 const GET_QUERY: usize = 0;
@@ -246,6 +226,18 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for SqliteTx<'s> {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        let query = r#"
+                delete from cozo where k >= ? and k < ?;
+            "#;
+        let mut statement = self.conn.as_ref().unwrap().prepare(query).unwrap();
+
+        statement.bind((1, lower)).unwrap();
+        statement.bind((2, upper)).unwrap();
+        while statement.next().unwrap() != State::Done {}
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     fn exists(&self, key: &[u8], _for_update: bool) -> Result<bool> {
         self.ensure_stmt(EXISTS_QUERY);
         let mut statement = self.stmts[EXISTS_QUERY].lock().unwrap();
@@ -321,7 +313,10 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for SqliteTx<'s> {
         Box::new(RawIter(statement))
     }
 
-    fn range_count<'a>(&'a self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<usize> where 's: 'a {
+    fn range_count<'a>(&'a self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<usize>
+    where
+        's: 'a,
+    {
         let query = QUERIES[COUNT_RANGE_QUERY];
         let mut statement = self.conn.as_ref().unwrap().prepare(query).unwrap();
         statement.bind((1, lower)).unwrap();
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/temp.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/temp.rs
index 15a5a001..7038e8fa 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/temp.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/temp.rs
@@ -33,10 +33,6 @@ impl<'s> Storage<'s> for TempStorage {
         })
     }
 
-    fn del_range(&'s self, _lower: &[u8], _upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
-        panic!("del_range called on temp store")
-    }
-
     fn range_compact(&'s self, _lower: &[u8], _upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
         panic!("range compact called on temp store")
     }
@@ -76,6 +72,10 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for TempTx {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, _lower: &[u8], _upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     fn exists(&self, key: &[u8], _for_update: bool) -> Result<bool> {
         Ok(self.store.contains_key(key))
     }
diff --git a/cozo-core/src/storage/tikv.rs b/cozo-core/src/storage/tikv.rs
index d65e8ed8..27cc50f4 100644
--- a/cozo-core/src/storage/tikv.rs
+++ b/cozo-core/src/storage/tikv.rs
@@ -79,17 +79,6 @@ impl Storage<'_> for TiKvStorage {
         })
     }
 
-    fn del_range(&self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
-        let raw_client = self.raw_client.clone();
-        let lower_b = lower.to_owned();
-        let upper_b = upper.to_owned();
-        thread::spawn(move || {
-            RT.block_on(raw_client.delete_range(lower_b..upper_b))
-                .unwrap();
-        });
-        Ok(())
-    }
-
     fn range_compact(&self, _lower: &[u8], _upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -141,6 +130,17 @@ impl<'s> StoreTx<'s> for TiKvTx {
             .into_diagnostic()
     }
 
+    fn del_range_from_persisted(&mut self, lower: &[u8], upper: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        let to_remove: Vec<_> = self
+            .range_scan(lower, upper)
+            .map_ok(|(k, v)| k)
+            .try_collect()?;
+        for key in to_remove {
+            self.del(&key)?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     fn exists(&self, key: &[u8], for_update: bool) -> Result<bool> {
         if for_update {
             RT.block_on(self.tx.lock().unwrap().get_for_update(key.to_owned()))