diff --git a/newbrt/brt.c b/newbrt/brt.c
index aa982a61a37..356b381d83b 100644
--- a/newbrt/brt.c
+++ b/newbrt/brt.c
@@ -353,6 +353,7 @@ int toku_unpin_brtnode (BRT brt, BRTNODE node) {
 //	//if (node->log_lsn.lsn>33320) printf("%s:%d node%lld lsn=%lld\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, node->thisnodename, node->log_lsn.lsn);
 //    }
     VERIFY_NODE(brt,node);
+    if (node->height>0) { int i; for (i=0; i+1<node->u.n.n_children; i++) assert(node->u.n.childkeys[i]); }
     return toku_cachetable_unpin(brt->cf, node->thisnodename, node->fullhash, node->dirty, brtnode_memory_size(node));
 }
 
@@ -1870,25 +1871,31 @@ maybe_merge_pinned_nonleaf_nodes (BRT t,
 				  BOOL *did_merge,
 				  struct kv_pair **splitk)
 {
+    assert(parent_splitk);
     int old_n_children = a->u.n.n_children;
     int new_n_children = old_n_children + b->u.n.n_children;
     XREALLOC_N(new_n_children, a->u.n.childinfos);
     memcpy(a->u.n.childinfos + old_n_children,
 	   b->u.n.childinfos,
-	   b->u.n.n_children);
+	   b->u.n.n_children*sizeof(b->u.n.childinfos[0]));
     XREALLOC_N(new_n_children-1, a->u.n.childkeys);
     a->u.n.childkeys[old_n_children-1] = parent_splitk;
     memcpy(a->u.n.childkeys + old_n_children,
 	   b->u.n.childkeys,
-	   b->u.n.n_children-1);
+	   (b->u.n.n_children-1)*sizeof(b->u.n.childkeys[0]));
     a->u.n.totalchildkeylens += b->u.n.totalchildkeylens;
     a->u.n.n_bytes_in_buffers += b->u.n.n_bytes_in_buffers;
     a->u.n.n_children = new_n_children;
+
+    b->u.n.totalchildkeylens = 0;
+    b->u.n.n_children = 0;
+    b->u.n.n_bytes_in_buffers = 0;
+
     fixup_child_fingerprint(parent, childnum_of_parent, a, t, logger);
-    abort(); // must deallocate b.
-    abort(); // don't forget to reuse blocknums
+//    abort(); // don't forget to reuse blocknums
     *did_merge = TRUE;
     *splitk    = NULL;
+    { int i; for (i=0; i+1<a->u.n.n_children; i++) assert(a->u.n.childkeys[i]); }
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1902,11 +1909,22 @@ maybe_merge_pinned_nodes (BRT t,
 //    For leaf nodes, we distribute the leafentries evenly.
 //    For nonleaf nodes, we distribute the children evenly.  That may leave one or both of the nodes overfull, but that's OK.
 //  If we distribute, we set *splitk to a malloced pivot key.
+// Parameters:
+//  t                   The BRT.
+//  parent              The parent of the two nodes to be split.
+//  childnum_of_parent  Which child of the parent is a?  (b is the next child.)
+//  parent_splitk       The pivot key between a and b.   This is either free()'d or returned in *splitk.
+//  a                   The first node to merge.
+//  b                   The second node to merge.
+//  logger              The logger.
+//  did_merge           (OUT):  Did the two nodes actually get merged?
+//  splitk              (OUT):  If the two nodes did not get merged, the new pivot key between the two nodes.
 {
     assert(a->height == b->height);
-    if (a->height == 0)
+    if (a->height == 0) {
+	toku_free(parent_splitk); // We don't need the parent_splitk any more.  If we need a splitk, we'll malloc a new one.
 	return maybe_merge_pinned_leaf_nodes(t, a, b, logger, did_merge, splitk);
-    else {
+    } else {
 	return maybe_merge_pinned_nonleaf_nodes(t, parent, childnum_of_parent, parent_splitk, a, b, logger, did_merge, splitk);
     }
 }
@@ -1974,17 +1992,24 @@ brt_merge_child (BRT t, BRTNODE node, int childnum_to_merge, BOOL *did_io, TOKUL
     }
 
     int r;
+    BOOL did_merge;
     {
-	BOOL did_merge;
 	struct kv_pair *splitk_kvpair = 0;
+	struct kv_pair *old_split_key = node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma];
+	unsigned int deleted_size = toku_brt_pivot_key_len(t, old_split_key);
+	printf("%s:%d Maybe merging pinned nodes\n", __FILE__, __LINE__);
+	if (childa->height>0) { int i; for (i=0; i+1<childa->u.n.n_children; i++) assert(childa->u.n.childkeys[i]); }
+	{ int i; for (i=0; i+1<node->u.n.n_children; i++) assert(node->u.n.childkeys[i]); }
 	r = maybe_merge_pinned_nodes(t, node, childnuma, node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma], childa, childb, logger, &did_merge, &splitk_kvpair);
+	if (childa->height>0) { int i; for (i=0; i+1<childa->u.n.n_children; i++) assert(childa->u.n.childkeys[i]); }
+	//(toku_verify_counts(childa), toku_verify_estimates(t,childa));
+	if (did_merge) assert(!splitk_kvpair); else assert(splitk_kvpair);
 	if (r!=0) goto return_r;
+
+	node->u.n.totalchildkeylens -= deleted_size; // The key was free()'d inside the maybe_merge_pinned_nodes.
+
 	if (did_merge) {
-	    {
-		struct kv_pair *delete_this_key = node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma];
-		node->u.n.totalchildkeylens -= toku_brt_pivot_key_len(t, delete_this_key);
-		toku_free(delete_this_key);
-	    }
+	    printf("%s:%d %s did_merge\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __func__);
 	    toku_fifo_free(&BNC_BUFFER(node, childnumb));
 	    node->u.n.n_children--;
 	    memmove(&node->u.n.childinfos[childnumb],
@@ -1996,21 +2021,27 @@ brt_merge_child (BRT t, BRTNODE node, int childnum_to_merge, BOOL *did_io, TOKUL
 		    (node->u.n.n_children-childnumb)*sizeof(node->u.n.childkeys[0]));
 	    REALLOC_N(node->u.n.n_children-1, node->u.n.childkeys);
 	    fixup_child_fingerprint(node, childnuma, childa, t, logger);
+	    assert(node->u.n.childinfos[childnuma].blocknum.b == childa->thisnodename.b);
 	} else {
-	    // If we didn't merge the nodes, then we may have mucked with the pivot.
-	    if (splitk_kvpair) {
-		node->u.n.totalchildkeylens -= toku_brt_pivot_key_len(t, node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma]);
-		toku_free(node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma]);
-		node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma] = splitk_kvpair;
-		node->u.n.totalchildkeylens += toku_brt_pivot_key_len(t, node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma]);
-	    }
+	    assert(splitk_kvpair);
+	    // If we didn't merge the nodes, then we need the correct pivot.
+	    node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma] = splitk_kvpair;
+	    node->u.n.totalchildkeylens += toku_brt_pivot_key_len(t, node->u.n.childkeys[childnuma]);
 	}
     }
  return_r:
     // Unpin both, and return the first nonzero error code that is found
+    assert(node->dirty);
     {
 	int rra = toku_unpin_brtnode(t, childa);
-	int rrb = toku_unpin_brtnode(t, childb);
+	int rrb;
+	if (did_merge) {
+	    rrb = toku_cachetable_unpin_and_remove(t->cf, childb->thisnodename, node->fullhash, 0);
+	    toku_brtnode_free(&childb);
+	} else {
+	    rrb = toku_unpin_brtnode(t, childb);
+	}
+
 	if (rra) return rra;
 	if (rrb) return rrb;
     }
@@ -2019,6 +2050,7 @@ brt_merge_child (BRT t, BRTNODE node, int childnum_to_merge, BOOL *did_io, TOKUL
 
 static int
 brt_handle_maybe_reactive_child(BRT t, BRTNODE node, int childnum, enum reactivity re, BOOL *did_io, TOKULOGGER logger) {
+    { int i; for (i=0; i+1<node->u.n.n_children; i++) assert(node->u.n.childkeys[i]); }
     switch (re) {
     case RE_STABLE: return 0;
     case RE_FISSIBLE:
diff --git a/newbrt/cachetable.c b/newbrt/cachetable.c
index 9c6c108bfa9..bf10788dac0 100644
--- a/newbrt/cachetable.c
+++ b/newbrt/cachetable.c
@@ -976,14 +976,12 @@ int toku_cachetable_close (CACHETABLE *tp) {
     return 0;
 }
 
-#if 0
 // this is broken. needs to wait for writebacks to complete
-int toku_cachetable_remove (CACHEFILE cachefile, CACHEKEY key, int write_me) {
+int toku_cachetable_upnin_and_remove (CACHEFILE cachefile, CACHEKEY key, u_int32_t fullhash, int write_me) {
     /* Removing something already present is OK. */
     CACHETABLE t = cachefile->cachetable;
     PAIR p;
     int count = 0;
-    u_int32_t fullhash = toku_cachetable_hash(cachefile, key);
     cachetable_lock(t);
     for (p=t->table[fullhash&(t->table_size-1)]; p; p=p->hash_chain) {
 	count++;
@@ -999,7 +997,6 @@ int toku_cachetable_remove (CACHEFILE cachefile, CACHEKEY key, int write_me) {
     note_hash_count(count);
     return 0;
 }
-#endif
 
 #if 0
 static void flush_and_keep (PAIR flush_me) {
diff --git a/newbrt/cachetable.h b/newbrt/cachetable.h
index a129c19deaf..af3af16f7d6 100644
--- a/newbrt/cachetable.h
+++ b/newbrt/cachetable.h
@@ -105,7 +105,9 @@ int toku_cachetable_maybe_get_and_pin (CACHEFILE, CACHEKEY, u_int32_t /*fullhash
 // Returns: 0 if success, otherwise returns an error number.
 int toku_cachetable_unpin(CACHEFILE, CACHEKEY, u_int32_t fullhash, int dirty, long size);
 
-int toku_cachetable_remove (CACHEFILE, CACHEKEY, int /*write_me*/); /* Removing something already present is OK. */
+int toku_cachetable_unpin_and_remove (CACHEFILE, CACHEKEY, u_int32_t fullhash, int /*write_me_if_dirty*/); /* Removing something already present is OK. */
+// Effect: Remove an object from the cachetable, writing it if the object is dirty.
+// Requires: The object must be pinned exactly once.
 
 int toku_cachetable_assert_all_unpinned (CACHETABLE);