diff --git a/src/fractal_btree_level.erl b/src/fractal_btree_level.erl
index 4e9e4b9..660be0d 100644
--- a/src/fractal_btree_level.erl
+++ b/src/fractal_btree_level.erl
@@ -261,7 +261,8 @@ begin_merge(State) ->
 
     MergePID = proc_lib:spawn_link(fun() ->
                        {ok, OutCount} = fractal_btree_merger2:merge(AFileName, BFileName, XFileName,
-                                                                   1 bsl (State#state.level + 1)),
+                                                                   1 bsl (State#state.level + 1),
+                                                                   State#state.next =:= undefined),
 %                       error_logger:info_msg("merge done ~p,~p -> ~p~n", [AFileName, BFileName, XFileName]),
 
                        Owner ! {merge_done, OutCount, XFileName}
diff --git a/src/fractal_btree_merger2.erl b/src/fractal_btree_merger2.erl
index bb1f877..ed6b4cf 100644
--- a/src/fractal_btree_merger2.erl
+++ b/src/fractal_btree_merger2.erl
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 -module(fractal_btree_merger2).
 
 %%
-%% Naive Merge of two b-trees.  A better implementation should iterate leafs, not KV's
+%% Merging two BTrees
 %%
 
--export([merge/4]).
+-export([merge/5]).
 
 -define(LOCAL_WRITER, true).
 
-merge(A,B,C, Size) ->
+merge(A,B,C, Size, IsLastLevel) ->
     {ok, BT1} = fractal_btree_reader:open(A),
     {ok, BT2} = fractal_btree_reader:open(B),
     case ?LOCAL_WRITER of
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ merge(A,B,C, Size) ->
     {node, AKVs} = fractal_btree_reader:first_node(BT1),
     {node, BKVs} = fractal_btree_reader:first_node(BT2),
 
-    {ok, Count, Out2} = scan(BT1, BT2, Out, AKVs, BKVs, 0),
+    {ok, Count, Out2} = scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, 0),
 
     %% finish stream tree
     ok = fractal_btree_reader:close(BT1),
@@ -37,23 +37,23 @@ merge(A,B,C, Size) ->
     {ok, Count}.
 
 
-scan(BT1, BT2, Out, [], BKVs, Count) ->
+scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, [], BKVs, Count) ->
     case fractal_btree_reader:next_node(BT1) of
         {node, AKVs} ->
-            scan(BT1, BT2, Out, AKVs, BKVs, Count);
+            scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count);
         end_of_data ->
-            scan_only(BT2, Out, BKVs, Count)
+            scan_only(BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, BKVs, Count)
     end;
 
-scan(BT1, BT2, Out, AKVs, [], Count) ->
+scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, [], Count) ->
     case fractal_btree_reader:next_node(BT2) of
         {node, BKVs} ->
-            scan(BT1, BT2, Out, AKVs, BKVs, Count);
+            scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count);
         end_of_data ->
-            scan_only(BT1, Out, AKVs, Count)
+            scan_only(BT1, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, Count)
     end;
 
-scan(BT1, BT2, Out, [{Key1,Value1}|AT]=AKVs, [{Key2,Value2}|BT]=BKVs, Count) ->
+scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, [{Key1,Value1}|AT]=AKVs, [{Key2,Value2}|BT]=BKVs, Count) ->
     if Key1 < Key2 ->
             case ?LOCAL_WRITER of
                 true ->
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ scan(BT1, BT2, Out, [{Key1,Value1}|AT]=AKVs, [{Key2,Value2}|BT]=BKVs, Count) ->
                     ok = fractal_btree_writer:add(Out2=Out, Key1, Value1)
             end,
 
-            scan(BT1, BT2, Out2, AT, BKVs, Count+1);
+            scan(BT1, BT2, Out2, IsLastLevel, AT, BKVs, Count+1);
 
        Key2 < Key1 ->
             case ?LOCAL_WRITER of
@@ -71,32 +71,37 @@ scan(BT1, BT2, Out, [{Key1,Value1}|AT]=AKVs, [{Key2,Value2}|BT]=BKVs, Count) ->
                 false ->
                     ok = fractal_btree_writer:add(Out2=Out, Key2, Value2)
             end,
-            scan(BT1, BT2, Out2, AKVs, BT, Count+1);
+            scan(BT1, BT2, Out2, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BT, Count+1);
 
-       Key1 == Key2 ->
-            %% TODO: eliminate tombstones, right now they just bubble down
+       (delete =:= Value2) and (true =:= IsLastLevel) ->
+            scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AT, BT, Count);
+
+       true ->
             case ?LOCAL_WRITER of
                 true ->
                     {noreply, Out2} = fractal_btree_writer:handle_cast({add, Key2, Value2}, Out);
                 false ->
                     ok = fractal_btree_writer:add(Out2=Out, Key2, Value2)
             end,
-            scan(BT1, BT2, Out2, AT, BT, Count+1)
+            scan(BT1, BT2, Out2, IsLastLevel, AT, BT, Count+1)
     end.
 
-scan_only(BT, Out, [], Count) ->
+scan_only(BT, Out, IsLastLevel, [], Count) ->
     case fractal_btree_reader:next_node(BT) of
         {node, KVs} ->
-            scan_only(BT, Out, KVs, Count);
+            scan_only(BT, Out, IsLastLevel, KVs, Count);
         end_of_data ->
             {ok, Count, Out}
     end;
 
-scan_only(BT, Out, [{Key,Value}|Rest], Count) ->
+scan_only(BT, Out, true, [{_,delete}|Rest], Count) ->
+    scan_only(BT, Out, true, Rest, Count);
+
+scan_only(BT, Out, IsLastLevel, [{Key,Value}|Rest], Count) ->
     case ?LOCAL_WRITER of
         true ->
             {noreply, Out2} = fractal_btree_writer:handle_cast({add, Key, Value}, Out);
         false ->
             ok = fractal_btree_writer:add(Out2=Out, Key, Value)
     end,
-    scan_only(BT, Out2, Rest, Count+1).
+    scan_only(BT, Out2, IsLastLevel, Rest, Count+1).
diff --git a/test/fractal_btree_merger_tests.erl b/test/fractal_btree_merger_tests.erl
index d0f36e5..1d41582 100644
--- a/test/fractal_btree_merger_tests.erl
+++ b/test/fractal_btree_merger_tests.erl
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
 
 merge_test() ->
 
+    file:delete("test1"),
+    file:delete("test2"),
+    file:delete("test3"),
+
     {ok, BT1} = fractal_btree_writer:open("test1"),
     lists:foldl(fun(N,_) ->
                         ok = fractal_btree_writer:add(BT1, <<N:128>>, <<"data",N:128>>)
@@ -27,13 +31,9 @@ merge_test() ->
     ok = fractal_btree_writer:close(BT2),
 
 
-    {Time,{ok,Count}} = timer:tc(fractal_btree_merger2, merge, ["test1", "test2", "test3", 10000]),
+    {Time,{ok,Count}} = timer:tc(fractal_btree_merger2, merge, ["test1", "test2", "test3", 10000, true]),
 
     error_logger:info_msg("time to merge: ~p/sec (time=~p, count=~p)~n", [1000000/(Time/Count), Time/1000000, Count]),
 
-    ok = file:delete("test1"),
-    ok = file:delete("test2"),
-    ok = file:delete("test3"),
-
     ok.