diff --git a/blockchain/utreexoio.go b/blockchain/utreexoio.go
index d149720b..aca2c9dd 100644
--- a/blockchain/utreexoio.go
+++ b/blockchain/utreexoio.go
@@ -155,6 +155,9 @@ func NodesBackendDelete(tx *leveldb.Transaction, k uint64) error {
 // Delete removes the given key from the underlying map. No-op if the key
 // doesn't exist.
 func (m *NodesBackEnd) Delete(k uint64) {
+	// Don't delete as the same key may get called to be removed multiple times.
+	// Cache it as removed so that we don't call expensive flushes on keys that
+	// are not in the database.
 	leaf, _ := m.cache.Get(k)
 	l := utreexobackends.CachedLeaf{
 		Leaf:  leaf.Leaf,
@@ -254,7 +257,7 @@ func (m *NodesBackEnd) UsageStats() (int64, int64) {
 // flush saves all the cached entries to disk and resets the cache map.
 func (m *NodesBackEnd) Flush(ldbTx *leveldb.Transaction) error {
 	err := m.cache.ForEach(func(k uint64, v utreexobackends.CachedLeaf) error {
-		if v.IsRemoved() {
+		if v.IsRemoved() && !v.IsFresh() {
 			err := NodesBackendDelete(ldbTx, k)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err