diff --git a/lib/UnQLite.pm b/lib/UnQLite.pm
index 04c55fb..3868d37 100644
--- a/lib/UnQLite.pm
+++ b/lib/UnQLite.pm
@@ -118,7 +118,9 @@ sub STORE {
 
 sub DELETE {
     my ($self, $key) = @_;
-    my $prev = $self->kv_fetch($key);
+    my $prev = $self->[1]->kv_fetch($key);
+    my $errstr = $self->[1]->errstr;
+    return if $errstr && $errstr eq 'UNQLITE_NOTFOUND';
     $self->[1]->kv_delete($key) or Carp::croak $self->[1]->errstr;
     $prev;
 }
diff --git a/t/03_tie.t b/t/03_tie.t
index 7ccf39e..9c66d6c 100644
--- a/t/03_tie.t
+++ b/t/03_tie.t
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ my $tmp = tempdir( CLEANUP => 1 );
     is($hash{yay}, 'yappo');
     $hash{foo} = 'baz';
     is($hash{foo}, 'baz');
+    $hash{delete} = 'delete';
+    is(delete $hash{delete}, 'delete');
+    is(delete $hash{delete}, undef);
 
     is(join(" ", sort keys %hash), "foo yay");
     is(join(" ", sort values %hash), "baz yappo");