diff --git a/cmd/stbak/cmd/delete.go b/cmd/stbak/cmd/delete.go
index 076f291..b5dcdfa 100644
--- a/cmd/stbak/cmd/delete.go
+++ b/cmd/stbak/cmd/delete.go
@@ -133,11 +133,6 @@ func delete(
 	// Append deletion hdrs to the tape or tar file
 	hdrs := []*tar.Header{}
 	for _, dbhdr := range headersToDelete {
-		// Check if the header hasn't already been deleted; the records will be corrected in the last index step
-		if _, err := metadataPersister.DeleteHeader(context.Background(), dbhdr.Name, -1, -1, false); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
 		hdr, err := converters.DBHeaderToTarHeader(dbhdr)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/internal/persisters/metadata.go b/internal/persisters/metadata.go
index 84e7ae5..a8ca38a 100644
--- a/internal/persisters/metadata.go
+++ b/internal/persisters/metadata.go
@@ -95,7 +95,10 @@ func (p *MetadataPersister) GetHeaders(ctx context.Context) (models.HeaderSlice,
 }
 
 func (p *MetadataPersister) GetHeader(ctx context.Context, name string) (*models.Header, error) {
-	return models.FindHeader(ctx, p.db, name)
+	return models.Headers(
+		qm.Where(models.HeaderColumns.Name+" = ?", name),
+		qm.Where(models.HeaderColumns.Deleted+" != 1"),
+	).One(ctx, p.db)
 }
 
 func (p *MetadataPersister) GetHeaderChildren(ctx context.Context, name string) (models.HeaderSlice, error) {
@@ -194,20 +197,16 @@ where %v like ?
 	return headers, nil
 }
 
-func (p *MetadataPersister) DeleteHeader(ctx context.Context, name string, lastknownrecord, lastknownblock int64, ignoreNotExists bool) (*models.Header, error) {
+func (p *MetadataPersister) DeleteHeader(ctx context.Context, name string, lastknownrecord, lastknownblock int64) (*models.Header, error) {
 	hdr, err := models.FindHeader(ctx, p.db, name)
 	if err != nil {
-		if err == sql.ErrNoRows && ignoreNotExists {
+		if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
 			return nil, nil
 		}
 
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if hdr != nil && hdr.Deleted == 1 && !ignoreNotExists {
-		return nil, sql.ErrNoRows
-	}
-
 	hdr.Deleted = 1
 	hdr.Lastknownrecord = lastknownrecord
 	hdr.Lastknownblock = lastknownblock
diff --git a/pkg/recovery/index.go b/pkg/recovery/index.go
index 5ebe5ac..6b3351b 100644
--- a/pkg/recovery/index.go
+++ b/pkg/recovery/index.go
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ func indexHeader(
 				return err
 			}
 		case pax.STFSRecordActionDelete:
-			if _, err := metadataPersister.DeleteHeader(context.Background(), hdr.Name, record, block, true); err != nil {
+			if _, err := metadataPersister.DeleteHeader(context.Background(), hdr.Name, record, block); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 		case pax.STFSRecordActionUpdate: