diff --git a/src/Expr.cc b/src/Expr.cc
index fe32e54df8..1e01d7bc39 100644
--- a/src/Expr.cc
+++ b/src/Expr.cc
@@ -2550,7 +2550,7 @@ void IndexExpr::Delete(Frame* f)
 	if ( ! v2 )
 		return;
 
-	v1->AsTableVal()->Delete(v2.get());
+	v1->AsTableVal()->Remove(*v2);
 	}
 
 IntrusivePtr<Expr> IndexExpr::MakeLvalue()
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index a11c26b0f7..bfa3ed9a37 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -1657,7 +1657,7 @@ bool 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 ...
-		t->Delete(k);
+		t->Remove(k);
 		delete k;
 		}
 
@@ -2089,16 +2089,16 @@ void TableVal::CallChangeFunc(const Val* index, Val* old_value, OnChangeType tpe
 	in_change_func = false;
 	}
 
-IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Delete(const Val* index)
+IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Remove(const Val& index)
 	{
-	HashKey* k = ComputeHash(*index);
+	HashKey* k = ComputeHash(index);
 	TableEntryVal* v = k ? AsNonConstTable()->RemoveEntry(k) : nullptr;
 	IntrusivePtr<Val> va;
 
 	if ( v )
 		va = v->GetVal() ? v->GetVal() : IntrusivePtr{NewRef{}, this};
 
-	if ( subnets && ! subnets->Remove(index) )
+	if ( subnets && ! subnets->Remove(&index) )
 		reporter->InternalWarning("index not in prefix table");
 
 	delete k;
@@ -2107,12 +2107,12 @@ IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Delete(const Val* index)
 	Modified();
 
 	if ( change_func )
-		CallChangeFunc(index, va.get(), ELEMENT_REMOVED);
+		CallChangeFunc(&index, va.get(), ELEMENT_REMOVED);
 
 	return va;
 	}
 
-IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Delete(const HashKey* k)
+IntrusivePtr<Val> TableVal::Remove(const HashKey* k)
 	{
 	TableEntryVal* v = AsNonConstTable()->RemoveEntry(k);
 	IntrusivePtr<Val> va;
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index 42210518ea..c00dc07afc 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -875,9 +875,31 @@ public:
 	// Returns the index corresponding to the given HashKey.
 	IntrusivePtr<ListVal> RecoverIndex(const HashKey* k) const;
 
-	// Returns the element if it was in the table, false otherwise.
-	IntrusivePtr<Val> Delete(const Val* index);
-	IntrusivePtr<Val> Delete(const HashKey* k);
+	/**
+	 * Remove an element from the table and return it.
+	 * @param index  The index to remove.
+	 * @return  The value associated with the index if it exists, else nullptr.
+	 * For a sets that don't really contain associated values, a placeholder
+	 * value is returned to differentiate it from non-existent index (nullptr),
+	 * but otherwise has no meaning in relation to the set's contents.
+	 */
+	IntrusivePtr<Val> Remove(const Val& index);
+
+	/**
+	 * Same as Remove(const Val&), but uses a precomputed hash key.
+	 * @param k  The hash key to lookup.  This method takes ownership of
+	 * deleting it.
+	 * @return  Same as Remove(const Val&).
+	 */
+	IntrusivePtr<Val> Remove(const HashKey* k);
+
+	[[deprecated("Remove in v4.1.  Use Remove().")]]
+	Val* Delete(const Val* index)
+		{ return Remove(*index).release(); }
+
+	[[deprecated("Remove in v4.1.  Use Remove().")]]
+	Val* Delete(const HashKey* k)
+		{ return Remove(k).release(); }
 
 	// Returns a ListVal representation of the table (which must be a set).
 	IntrusivePtr<ListVal> ToListVal(TypeTag t = TYPE_ANY) const;
diff --git a/src/input/Manager.cc b/src/input/Manager.cc
index 9788fbd802..1191b6233f 100644
--- a/src/input/Manager.cc
+++ b/src/input/Manager.cc
@@ -1371,7 +1371,7 @@ void Manager::EndCurrentSend(ReaderFrontend* reader)
 			SendEvent(stream->event, 4, stream->description->Ref(), ev->Ref(),
 			          predidx->Ref(), val->Ref());
 
-		stream->tab->Delete(ih->idxkey);
+		stream->tab->Remove(ih->idxkey);
 		stream->lastDict->Remove(lastDictIdxKey); // delete in next line
 		delete lastDictIdxKey;
 		delete(ih);
@@ -1737,7 +1737,7 @@ bool Manager::Delete(ReaderFrontend* reader, Value* *vals)
 		// only if stream = true -> no streaming
 		if ( streamresult )
 			{
-			if ( ! stream->tab->Delete(idxval) )
+			if ( ! stream->tab->Remove(*idxval) )
 				Warning(i, "Internal error while deleting values from input table");
 			}
 		}