diff --git a/src/ssb.rpc.c b/src/ssb.rpc.c
index 51898f94..651613d5 100644
--- a/src/ssb.rpc.c
+++ b/src/ssb.rpc.c
@@ -1482,51 +1482,86 @@ static void _tf_ssb_rpc_delete_blobs_work(tf_ssb_t* ssb, void* user_data)
 		return;
 	}
 	int64_t start_ns = uv_hrtime();
-	db = tf_ssb_acquire_db_writer(ssb);
-	sqlite3_stmt* statement;
 	int64_t now = (int64_t)time(NULL) * 1000ULL;
 	int64_t timestamp = now - age * 1000ULL;
-	const int k_limit = 128;
-	int deleted = 0;
-	if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, "DELETE FROM blob_wants_cache WHERE source IS NULL and timestamp < ?1", -1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
-	{
-		if (sqlite3_bind_int64(statement, 1, timestamp) == SQLITE_OK)
-		{
-			if (sqlite3_step(statement) != SQLITE_DONE)
-			{
-				tf_printf("Deleting stale blob wants cache entries: %s.\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
-			}
-		}
-		sqlite3_finalize(statement);
-	}
+	sqlite3_stmt* statement;
+
+	char** ids = NULL;
+	int ids_count = 0;
+
+	db = tf_ssb_acquire_db_reader(ssb);
 	if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db,
-			"DELETE FROM blobs WHERE blobs.id IN ("
-			"  SELECT blobs.id FROM blobs "
-			"  JOIN messages_refs ON blobs.id = messages_refs.ref "
-			"  JOIN messages ON messages.id = messages_refs.message "
-			"  WHERE blobs.created < ?1 / 1000 "
-			"  GROUP BY blobs.id HAVING MAX(messages.timestamp) < ?1 LIMIT ?2)",
+			"SELECT blobs.id FROM blobs "
+			"JOIN messages_refs ON blobs.id = messages_refs.ref "
+			"JOIN messages ON messages.id = messages_refs.message "
+			"WHERE blobs.created < ?1 / 1000 "
+			"GROUP BY blobs.id HAVING MAX(messages.timestamp) < ?1 LIMIT ?2",
 			-1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
 	{
+		const int k_limit = 128;
 		if (sqlite3_bind_int64(statement, 1, timestamp) == SQLITE_OK && sqlite3_bind_int(statement, 2, k_limit) == SQLITE_OK)
 		{
-			int r = sqlite3_step(statement);
+			int r = SQLITE_OK;
+			while ((r = sqlite3_step(statement)) == SQLITE_ROW)
+			{
+				ids = tf_realloc(ids, sizeof(char*) * (ids_count + 1));
+				ids[ids_count++] = tf_strdup((const char*)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 0));
+			}
 			if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
 			{
 				tf_printf("_tf_ssb_rpc_delete_blobs_work: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
 			}
-			else
-			{
-				tf_printf("_tf_ssb_rpc_delete_blobs_work: %d rows\n", sqlite3_changes(db));
-			}
-			deleted = sqlite3_changes(db);
 		}
 	}
 	else
 	{
 		tf_printf("prepare failed: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
 	}
-	tf_ssb_release_db_writer(ssb, db);
+	tf_ssb_release_db_reader(ssb, db);
+
+	int deleted = 0;
+	if (ids_count)
+	{
+		db = tf_ssb_acquire_db_writer(ssb);
+		if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, "DELETE FROM blob_wants_cache WHERE source IS NULL and timestamp < ?1", -1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+		{
+			if (sqlite3_bind_int64(statement, 1, timestamp) == SQLITE_OK)
+			{
+				if (sqlite3_step(statement) != SQLITE_DONE)
+				{
+					tf_printf("Deleting stale blob wants cache entries: %s.\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+				}
+			}
+			sqlite3_finalize(statement);
+		}
+		if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, "DELETE FROM blobs WHERE blobs.id = ?", -1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+		{
+			for (int i = 0; i < ids_count; i++)
+			{
+				if (sqlite3_bind_text(statement, 1, ids[i], -1, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+				{
+					int r = sqlite3_step(statement);
+					if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
+					{
+						tf_printf("_tf_ssb_rpc_delete_blobs_work: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+					}
+					else
+					{
+						deleted += sqlite3_changes(db);
+					}
+				}
+				sqlite3_reset(statement);
+				tf_free(ids[i]);
+			}
+			sqlite3_finalize(statement);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			tf_printf("prepare failed: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+		}
+		tf_ssb_release_db_writer(ssb, db);
+		tf_free(ids);
+	}
 	delete->duration_ms = (uv_hrtime() - start_ns) / 1000000LL;
 	tf_printf("Deleted %d blobs in %d ms.\n", deleted, (int)delete->duration_ms);
 }
@@ -1584,28 +1619,57 @@ static void _tf_ssb_rpc_delete_feeds_work(tf_ssb_t* ssb, void* user_data)
 	JS_FreeValue(context, json);
 	JS_FreeValue(context, array);
 
-	db = tf_ssb_acquire_db_writer(ssb);
 	sqlite3_stmt* statement;
-	if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db,
-			"DELETE FROM messages WHERE id IN ("
-			"  SELECT id FROM messages WHERE author NOT IN (SELECT value FROM json_each(?)) ORDER BY rowid DESC LIMIT 1024"
-			")",
-			-1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+
+	char** ids = NULL;
+	int ids_count = 0;
+
+	db = tf_ssb_acquire_db_reader(ssb);
+	if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, "SELECT id FROM messages WHERE author NOT IN (SELECT value FROM json_each(?)) ORDER BY rowid DESC LIMIT 1024", -1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
 	{
 		if (sqlite3_bind_text(statement, 1, arg, -1, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
 		{
-			if (sqlite3_step(statement) != SQLITE_DONE)
+			int r = SQLITE_OK;
+			while ((r = sqlite3_step(statement)) == SQLITE_ROW)
+			{
+				ids = tf_realloc(ids, sizeof(char*) * (ids_count + 1));
+				ids[ids_count++] = tf_strdup((const char*)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 0));
+			}
+			if (r != SQLITE_DONE)
 			{
 				tf_printf("deleting messages: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
 			}
-			else
-			{
-				delete->deleted += sqlite3_changes(db);
-			}
 		}
 		sqlite3_finalize(statement);
 	}
-	tf_ssb_release_db_writer(ssb, db);
+	tf_ssb_release_db_reader(ssb, db);
+
+	if (ids_count)
+	{
+		db = tf_ssb_acquire_db_writer(ssb);
+		if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, "DELETE FROM messages WHERE id = ?", -1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+		{
+			for (int i = 0; i < ids_count; i++)
+			{
+				if (sqlite3_bind_text(statement, 1, ids[i], -1, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+				{
+					if (sqlite3_step(statement) != SQLITE_DONE)
+					{
+						tf_printf("deleting messages: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+					}
+					else
+					{
+						delete->deleted++;
+					}
+				}
+				sqlite3_reset(statement);
+				tf_free(ids[i]);
+			}
+			sqlite3_finalize(statement);
+		}
+		tf_ssb_release_db_writer(ssb, db);
+		tf_free(ids);
+	}
 
 	JS_FreeCString(context, arg);