diff --git a/rhizome.h b/rhizome.h
index 6c73c5a5..9d24ce8a 100644
--- a/rhizome.h
+++ b/rhizome.h
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ rhizome_manifest *_rhizome_new_manifest(struct __sourceloc __whence);
 #define rhizome_new_manifest() _rhizome_new_manifest(__WHENCE__)
 int rhizome_manifest_pack_variables(rhizome_manifest *m);
 int rhizome_store_bundle(rhizome_manifest *m);
+int rhizome_remove_file_datainvalid(sqlite_retry_state *retry, const char *fileid);
 int rhizome_manifest_add_group(rhizome_manifest *m,char *groupid);
 int rhizome_clean_payload(const char *fileidhex);
 int rhizome_store_file(rhizome_manifest *m,const unsigned char *key);
diff --git a/rhizome_database.c b/rhizome_database.c
index bf536dde..3b28ec44 100644
--- a/rhizome_database.c
+++ b/rhizome_database.c
@@ -718,7 +718,6 @@ int64_t rhizome_database_used_bytes()
 int rhizome_database_filehash_from_id(const char *id, uint64_t version, char hash[SHA512_DIGEST_STRING_LENGTH])
 {
   IN();
-  
   strbuf hash_sb = strbuf_local(hash, SHA512_DIGEST_STRING_LENGTH);
   RETURN(sqlite_exec_strbuf(hash_sb, "SELECT filehash FROM MANIFESTS WHERE manifests.version=%lld AND manifests.id='%s';",
 			    version,id));
@@ -739,6 +738,16 @@ static int rhizome_delete_orphan_fileblobs_retry(sqlite_retry_state *retry)
   return sqlite_exec_void_retry_loglevel(LOG_LEVEL_WARN, retry, "DELETE FROM FILEBLOBS WHERE NOT EXISTS( SELECT 1 FROM FILES WHERE FILES.id = FILEBLOBS.id );");
 }
 
+int rhizome_remove_file_datainvalid(sqlite_retry_state *retry, const char *fileid)
+{
+  int ret = 0;
+  if (sqlite_exec_void_retry_loglevel(LOG_LEVEL_WARN, retry, "DELETE FROM FILES WHERE id='%s' and datavalid=0;", fileid) == -1)
+    ret = -1;
+  if (sqlite_exec_void_retry_loglevel(LOG_LEVEL_WARN, retry, "DELETE FROM FILEBLOBS WHERE id='%s' AND NOT EXISTS( SELECT 1 FROM FILES WHERE FILES.id=FILEBLOBS.id );", fileid) == -1)
+    ret = -1;
+  return ret;
+}
+
 int rhizome_cleanup(struct rhizome_cleanup_report *report)
 {
   IN();
diff --git a/rhizome_store.c b/rhizome_store.c
index 839f56d9..e4a96ccd 100644
--- a/rhizome_store.c
+++ b/rhizome_store.c
@@ -462,23 +462,26 @@ int rhizome_finish_write(struct rhizome_write *write)
   
   char hash_out[SHA512_DIGEST_STRING_LENGTH + 1];
   SHA512_End(&write->sha512_context, hash_out);
-  
-  sqlite_retry_state retry = SQLITE_RETRY_STATE_DEFAULT;
-  
   str_toupper_inplace(hash_out);
-  if (write->id_known){
-    if (strcasecmp(write->id, hash_out)){
-      WHYF("Expected hash=%s, got %s", write->id, hash_out);
+
+  if (write->id_known) {
+    if (strcasecmp(write->id, hash_out) != 0) {
+      WHYF("expected filehash=%s, got %s", write->id, hash_out);
       goto failure;
     }
   } else {
     strlcpy(write->id, hash_out, SHA512_DIGEST_STRING_LENGTH);
   }
   
-  if (rhizome_exists(hash_out)){
-    // ooops, we've already got that file, delete the new copy.
-    rhizome_fail_write(write);
-  }else{
+  sqlite_retry_state retry = SQLITE_RETRY_STATE_DEFAULT;
+  rhizome_remove_file_datainvalid(&retry, write->id);
+  if (rhizome_exists(write->id)) {
+    // we've already got that payload, delete the new copy
+    sqlite_exec_void_retry_loglevel(LOG_LEVEL_WARN, &retry,"DELETE FROM FILEBLOBS WHERE id='%"PRId64"';", write->temp_id);
+    sqlite_exec_void_retry_loglevel(LOG_LEVEL_WARN, &retry,"DELETE FROM FILES WHERE id='%"PRId64"';", write->temp_id);
+    if (config.debug.rhizome)
+      DEBUGF("File id='%s' already present, removed id='%"PRId64"'", write->id, write->temp_id);
+  } else {
     if (sqlite_exec_void_retry(&retry, "BEGIN TRANSACTION;") == -1)
       goto dbfailure;
     
@@ -517,12 +520,10 @@ int rhizome_finish_write(struct rhizome_write *write)
     }
     if (sqlite_exec_void_retry(&retry, "COMMIT;") == -1)
       goto dbfailure;
+    if (config.debug.rhizome)
+      DEBUGF("Stored file %s", write->id);
   }
-  
   write->blob_rowid=-1;
-  
-  if (config.debug.rhizome)
-    DEBUGF("Stored file %s", hash_out);
   return 0;
   
 dbfailure: