diff --git a/src/Expr.cc b/src/Expr.cc
index f4a49b8bc2..c2461cddfd 100644
--- a/src/Expr.cc
+++ b/src/Expr.cc
@@ -2581,7 +2581,7 @@ void IndexExpr::Delete(Frame* f)
 	if ( ! v2 )
 		return;
 
-	Unref(v1->AsTableVal()->Delete(v2.get()));
+	v1->AsTableVal()->Delete(v2.get());
 	}
 
 IntrusivePtr<Expr> IndexExpr::MakeLvalue()
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index 4eab5bd98d..6def2dbaa0 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -1598,7 +1598,7 @@ int TableVal::RemoveFrom(Val* val) const
 		// OTOH, they are both the same type, so as long as
 		// we don't have hash keys that are keyed per dictionary,
 		// it should work ...
-		Unref(t->Delete(k));
+		t->Delete(k);
 		delete k;
 		}
 
@@ -2000,7 +2000,7 @@ void TableVal::CallChangeFunc(const Val* index, Val* old_value, OnChangeType tpe
 	in_change_func = false;
 	}
 
-Val* TableVal::Delete(const Val* index)
+IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Delete(const Val* index)
 	{
 	HashKey* k = ComputeHash(index);
 	TableEntryVal* v = k ? AsNonConstTable()->RemoveEntry(k) : 0;
@@ -2017,10 +2017,10 @@ Val* TableVal::Delete(const Val* index)
 	if ( change_func )
 		CallChangeFunc(index, va.get(), ELEMENT_REMOVED);
 
-	return va.release();
+	return va;
 	}
 
-Val* TableVal::Delete(const HashKey* k)
+IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Delete(const HashKey* k)
 	{
 	TableEntryVal* v = AsNonConstTable()->RemoveEntry(k);
 	IntrusivePtr<Val> va{NewRef{}, v ? (v->Value() ? v->Value() : this) : nullptr};
@@ -2042,7 +2042,7 @@ Val* TableVal::Delete(const HashKey* k)
 		CallChangeFunc(index.get(), va.get(), ELEMENT_REMOVED);
 		}
 
-	return va.release();
+	return va;
 	}
 
 ListVal* TableVal::ConvertToList(TypeTag t) const
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index f785943547..9a97227b9d 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -769,8 +769,8 @@ public:
 	ListVal* RecoverIndex(const HashKey* k) const;
 
 	// Returns the element if it was in the table, false otherwise.
-	Val* Delete(const Val* index);
-	Val* Delete(const HashKey* k);
+	IntrusivePtr<Val> Delete(const Val* index);
+	IntrusivePtr<Val> Delete(const HashKey* k);
 
 	// Returns a ListVal representation of the table (which must be a set).
 	ListVal* ConvertToList(TypeTag t=TYPE_ANY) const;
diff --git a/src/input/Manager.cc b/src/input/Manager.cc
index c9f12bd778..2b57130fbf 100644
--- a/src/input/Manager.cc
+++ b/src/input/Manager.cc
@@ -1423,7 +1423,7 @@ void Manager::EndCurrentSend(ReaderFrontend* reader)
 		if ( ev )
 			Unref(ev);
 
-		Unref(stream->tab->Delete(ih->idxkey));
+		stream->tab->Delete(ih->idxkey);
 		stream->lastDict->Remove(lastDictIdxKey); // delete in next line
 		delete lastDictIdxKey;
 		delete(ih);
@@ -1790,12 +1790,10 @@ bool Manager::Delete(ReaderFrontend* reader, Value* *vals)
 		// only if stream = true -> no streaming
 		if ( streamresult )
 			{
-			Val* retptr = stream->tab->Delete(idxval);
+			auto retptr = stream->tab->Delete(idxval);
 			success = ( retptr != 0 );
 			if ( ! success )
 				Warning(i, "Internal error while deleting values from input table");
-			else
-				Unref(retptr);
 			}
 
 		}