diff --git a/api/cluster.go b/api/cluster.go
index 8d181184ac..14a5149ccc 100644
--- a/api/cluster.go
+++ b/api/cluster.go
@@ -283,7 +283,11 @@ func (s *Server) indexTagDelSeries(ctx *middleware.Context, request models.Index
 			return
 		}
 
-		deleted := s.MetricIndex.DeleteTagged(request.OrgId, query)
+		deleted, err := s.MetricIndex.DeleteTagged(request.OrgId, query)
+		if err != nil {
+			response.Write(ctx, response.WrapErrorForTagDB(err))
+			return
+		}
 		res.Count += len(deleted)
 	}
 
diff --git a/api/graphite.go b/api/graphite.go
index 09ed0056be..03a5f1d7c6 100644
--- a/api/graphite.go
+++ b/api/graphite.go
@@ -1278,7 +1278,12 @@ func (s *Server) graphiteTagDelSeries(ctx *middleware.Context, request models.Gr
 				return
 			}
 
-			deleted := s.MetricIndex.DeleteTagged(ctx.OrgId, query)
+			deleted, err := s.MetricIndex.DeleteTagged(ctx.OrgId, query)
+			if err != nil {
+				response.Write(ctx, response.WrapErrorForTagDB(err))
+				return
+			}
+
 			res.Count += len(deleted)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/idx/bigtable/bigtable.go b/idx/bigtable/bigtable.go
index 305c79cdfa..373a7e5a3b 100644
--- a/idx/bigtable/bigtable.go
+++ b/idx/bigtable/bigtable.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"cloud.google.com/go/bigtable"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/cluster"
+	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/expr/tagquery"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/idx"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/idx/memory"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/schema"
@@ -482,18 +483,47 @@ func (b *BigtableIdx) Delete(orgId uint32, pattern string) ([]idx.Archive, error
 	if err != nil {
 		return defs, err
 	}
+
+	err = b.deleteDefs(defs)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	statDeleteDuration.Value(time.Since(pre))
+	return defs, err
+}
+
+func (b *BigtableIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) ([]idx.Archive, error) {
+	pre := time.Now()
+	defs, err := b.MemoryIndex.DeleteTagged(orgId, query)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	err = b.deleteDefs(defs)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	statDeleteDuration.Value(time.Since(pre))
+	return defs, err
+}
+
+func (b *BigtableIdx) deleteDefs(defs []idx.Archive) error {
+	var err error
+
 	if b.cfg.UpdateBigtableIdx {
 		for _, def := range defs {
 			delErr := b.deleteDef(&def.MetricDefinition)
 			// the last error encountered will be passed back to the caller
 			if delErr != nil {
-				log.Errorf("bigtable-idx: Failed to delete def %s: %s", def.MetricDefinition.Id, err)
+				log.Errorf("bigtable-idx: Failed to delete def %s: %s", def.MetricDefinition.Id, delErr.Error())
 				err = delErr
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	statDeleteDuration.Value(time.Since(pre))
-	return defs, err
+
+	return err
 }
 
 func (b *BigtableIdx) deleteDef(def *schema.MetricDefinition) error {
diff --git a/idx/cassandra/cassandra.go b/idx/cassandra/cassandra.go
index c281208a36..1438d1c821 100644
--- a/idx/cassandra/cassandra.go
+++ b/idx/cassandra/cassandra.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gocql/gocql"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/cassandra"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/cluster"
+	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/expr/tagquery"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/idx"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/idx/memory"
 	"github.com/grafana/metrictank/schema"
@@ -668,16 +669,46 @@ func (c *CasIdx) Delete(orgId uint32, pattern string) ([]idx.Archive, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return defs, err
 	}
+
+	err = c.deleteDefs(defs)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	statDeleteDuration.Value(time.Since(pre))
+	return defs, err
+}
+
+func (c *CasIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) ([]idx.Archive, error) {
+	pre := time.Now()
+	defs, err := c.MemoryIndex.DeleteTagged(orgId, query)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	err = c.deleteDefs(defs)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	statDeleteDuration.Value(time.Since(pre))
+	return defs, err
+}
+
+func (c *CasIdx) deleteDefs(defs []idx.Archive) error {
+	var err error
+
 	if c.Config.updateCassIdx {
 		for _, def := range defs {
-			err = c.deleteDef(def.Id, def.Partition)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Errorf("cassandra-idx: %s", err.Error())
+			delErr := c.deleteDef(def.Id, def.Partition)
+			if delErr != nil {
+				log.Errorf("cassandra-idx: %s", delErr.Error())
+				err = delErr
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	statDeleteDuration.Value(time.Since(pre))
-	return defs, err
+
+	return err
 }
 
 func (c *CasIdx) deleteDef(key schema.MKey, part int32) error {
diff --git a/idx/idx.go b/idx/idx.go
index 0960d05ec7..6cc90c5a61 100644
--- a/idx/idx.go
+++ b/idx/idx.go
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ type MetricIndex interface {
 
 	// DeleteTagged deletes the series returned by the given query from the tag index
 	// and also the DefById index.
-	DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) []Archive
+	DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) ([]Archive, error)
 
 	// MetaTagRecordUpsert inserts, updates or deletes a meta record, depending on
 	// whether it already exists or is new. The identity of a record is determined
diff --git a/idx/memory/memory.go b/idx/memory/memory.go
index 8b9ee0a2b8..2d09afe8ea 100755
--- a/idx/memory/memory.go
+++ b/idx/memory/memory.go
@@ -1755,10 +1755,10 @@ func (m *UnpartitionedMemoryIdx) List(orgId uint32) []idx.Archive {
 	return defs
 }
 
-func (m *UnpartitionedMemoryIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) []idx.Archive {
+func (m *UnpartitionedMemoryIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) ([]idx.Archive, error) {
 	if !TagSupport {
 		log.Warn("memory-idx: received tag query, but tag support is disabled")
-		return nil
+		return nil, nil
 	}
 
 	queryCtx := NewTagQueryContext(query)
@@ -1774,7 +1774,7 @@ func (m *UnpartitionedMemoryIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query
 
 	m.Lock()
 	defer m.Unlock()
-	return m.deleteTaggedByIdSet(orgId, ids)
+	return m.deleteTaggedByIdSet(orgId, ids), nil
 }
 
 // deleteTaggedByIdSet deletes a map of ids from the tag index and also the DefByIds
diff --git a/idx/memory/memory_test.go b/idx/memory/memory_test.go
index 8dd5eab2f7..4a6da39076 100644
--- a/idx/memory/memory_test.go
+++ b/idx/memory/memory_test.go
@@ -484,7 +484,8 @@ func testDeleteTagged(t *testing.T) {
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		query, err := tagquery.NewQueryFromStrings(tags.Strings(), 0)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-		ids := ix.DeleteTagged(1, query)
+		ids, err := ix.DeleteTagged(1, query)
+		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		So(ids, ShouldHaveLength, 1)
 		So(ids[0].Id.String(), ShouldEqual, org1Series[3].Id)
 		Convey("series should not be present in the metricDef index", func() {
diff --git a/idx/memory/partitioned_idx.go b/idx/memory/partitioned_idx.go
index 14e13d2467..776be5d482 100644
--- a/idx/memory/partitioned_idx.go
+++ b/idx/memory/partitioned_idx.go
@@ -485,19 +485,26 @@ func (p *PartitionedMemoryIdx) FindTagValuesWithQuery(orgId uint32, tag, prefix
 
 // DeleteTagged deletes the specified series from the tag index and also the
 // DefById index.
-func (p *PartitionedMemoryIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) []idx.Archive {
+func (p *PartitionedMemoryIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query) ([]idx.Archive, error) {
 	g, _ := errgroup.WithContext(context.Background())
 	result := make([][]idx.Archive, len(p.Partition))
 	var i int
 	for _, m := range p.Partition {
 		pos, m := i, m
 		g.Go(func() error {
-			result[pos] = m.DeleteTagged(orgId, query)
+			var err error
+			result[pos], err = m.DeleteTagged(orgId, query)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 			return nil
 		})
 		i++
 	}
-	g.Wait()
+	err := g.Wait()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	// get our total count, so we can allocate our response in one go.
 	items := 0
@@ -510,7 +517,7 @@ func (p *PartitionedMemoryIdx) DeleteTagged(orgId uint32, query tagquery.Query)
 		response = append(response, r...)
 	}
 
-	return response
+	return response, nil
 }
 
 // Used to rebuild the index from an existing set of metricDefinitions.