diff --git a/object_db.go b/object_db.go
index c96b961..659b45b 100644
--- a/object_db.go
+++ b/object_db.go
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func (o *ObjectDatabase) WriteBlob(b *Blob) ([]byte, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	defer os.Remove(buf.Name())
+	defer o.cleanup(buf)
 
 	sha, _, err := o.encodeBuffer(b, buf)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ func (d *ObjectDatabase) encodeBuffer(object Object, buf io.ReadWriter) (sha []b
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, 0, err
 	}
-	defer os.Remove(tmp.Name())
+	defer d.cleanup(tmp)
 
 	to := NewObjectWriter(tmp)
 	if _, err = to.WriteHeader(object.Type(), int64(cn)); err != nil {
@@ -323,3 +323,8 @@ func (o *ObjectDatabase) decode(r *ObjectReader, into Object) error {
 	}
 	return r.Close()
 }
+
+func (o *ObjectDatabase) cleanup(f *os.File) {
+	f.Close()
+	os.Remove(f.Name())
+}