diff --git a/h2o-r/h2o-package/R/kvstore.R b/h2o-r/h2o-package/R/kvstore.R
index 1d721cfc38c6..dfccbb2699ba 100644
--- a/h2o-r/h2o-package/R/kvstore.R
+++ b/h2o-r/h2o-package/R/kvstore.R
@@ -47,12 +47,12 @@ h2o.ls <- function() {
 #' Remove All Objects on the H2O Cluster
 #'
 #' Removes the data from the h2o cluster, but does not remove the local references.
-#' Retains frames and vectors specified in retained_elements argument.
-#' Retained keys must be keys of models and frames only. For models retained, training and validation frames are retained as well.
+#' Retains models, frames and vectors specified in retained_elements argument.
+#' Retained elements must be instances/ids of models and frames only. For models retained, training and validation frames are retained as well.
 #' Cross validation models of a retained model are NOT retained automatically, those must be specified explicitely.
 #'
 #' @param timeout_secs Timeout in seconds. Default is no timeout.
-#' @param retained_elements Frames and vectors to be retained. Other keys provided are ignored.
+#' @param retained_elements Instances or ids of models and frames to be retained. Combination of instances and ids in the same list is also a valid input.
 #' @seealso \code{\link{h2o.rm}}
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ h2o.removeAll <- function(timeout_secs=0, retained_elements = c()) {
         retained_keys <- append(retained_keys, element@model_id)
       } else if (is.H2OFrame(element)) {
         retained_keys <- append(retained_keys, h2o.getId(element))
+      } else if( is.character(element) ) {
+        retained_keys <- append(retained_keys, element)
+      } else {
+        stop("The 'retained_elements' variable must be either an instance of H2OModel/H2OFrame or an id of H2OModel/H2OFrame.")
       }
     }
     
@@ -122,7 +126,7 @@ h2o.rm <- function(ids, cascade=TRUE) {
     } else if( is.character(xi) ) {
       .h2o.__remoteSend(paste0(.h2o.__DKV, "/",xi), method = "DELETE", .params=list(cascade=cascade))
     } else {
-      stop("input to h2o.rm must be a Keyed instance (e.g. H2OFrame, H2OModel) or character")
+      stop("Input to h2o.rm must be either an instance of H2OModel/H2OFrame or a character")
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/h2o-r/tests/testdir_misc/runit_retain.R b/h2o-r/tests/testdir_misc/runit_retain.R
index 0d8d2653e9ac..ef66e4332cbf 100644
--- a/h2o-r/tests/testdir_misc/runit_retain.R
+++ b/h2o-r/tests/testdir_misc/runit_retain.R
@@ -19,9 +19,17 @@ test.h2o.retain <- function() {
   h2o.removeAll(retained_elements = c(data, model))
   expect_false(is.null(h2o.getFrame(h2o.getId(data))))
   expect_false(is.null(h2o.getModel(model@model_id)))
-  
+
+  h2o.removeAll(retained_elements = c(h2o.getId(data), model@model_id))
+  expect_false(is.null(h2o.getFrame(h2o.getId(data))))
+  expect_false(is.null(h2o.getModel(model@model_id)))
+
+  h2o.removeAll(retained_elements = c(data, model@model_id))
+  expect_false(is.null(h2o.getFrame(h2o.getId(data))))
+  expect_false(is.null(h2o.getModel(model@model_id)))
+
   h2o.removeAll()
-  
+  expect_equal(length(h2o.ls()$key), 0)
 }
 
 doTest("Test h2o.retain", test.h2o.retain)