diff --git a/index/scorch/merge.go b/index/scorch/merge.go
index 41abe065..fb4e80d2 100644
--- a/index/scorch/merge.go
+++ b/index/scorch/merge.go
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) planMergeAtSnapshot(ourSnapshot *IndexSnapshot) error {
 		// give it to the introducer
 		select {
 		case <-s.closeCh:
+			_ = segment.Close()
 			return nil
 		case s.merges <- sm:
 		}
diff --git a/index/scorch/persister.go b/index/scorch/persister.go
index 61a266ad..83909a88 100644
--- a/index/scorch/persister.go
+++ b/index/scorch/persister.go
@@ -145,23 +145,15 @@ OUTER:
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) error {
+func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) (err error) {
 	// start a write transaction
 	tx, err := s.rootBolt.Begin(true)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	// defer fsync of the rootbolt
+	// defer rollback on error
 	defer func() {
-		if err == nil {
-			err = s.rootBolt.Sync()
-		}
-	}()
-	// defer commit/rollback transaction
-	defer func() {
-		if err == nil {
-			err = tx.Commit()
-		} else {
+		if err != nil {
 			_ = tx.Rollback()
 		}
 	}()
@@ -195,18 +187,18 @@ func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) error {
 	// first ensure that each segment in this snapshot has been persisted
 	for _, segmentSnapshot := range snapshot.segment {
 		snapshotSegmentKey := segment.EncodeUvarintAscending(nil, segmentSnapshot.id)
-		snapshotSegmentBucket, err2 := snapshotBucket.CreateBucketIfNotExists(snapshotSegmentKey)
-		if err2 != nil {
-			return err2
+		snapshotSegmentBucket, err := snapshotBucket.CreateBucketIfNotExists(snapshotSegmentKey)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
 		switch seg := segmentSnapshot.segment.(type) {
 		case *zap.SegmentBase:
 			// need to persist this to disk
 			filename := zapFileName(segmentSnapshot.id)
 			path := s.path + string(os.PathSeparator) + filename
-			err2 := zap.PersistSegmentBase(seg, path)
-			if err2 != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("error persisting segment: %v", err2)
+			err = zap.PersistSegmentBase(seg, path)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("error persisting segment: %v", err)
 			}
 			newSegmentPaths[segmentSnapshot.id] = path
 			err = snapshotSegmentBucket.Put(boltPathKey, []byte(filename))
@@ -249,14 +241,18 @@ func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) error {
 	if len(newSegmentPaths) > 0 {
 		// now try to open all the new snapshots
 		newSegments := make(map[uint64]segment.Segment)
+		defer func() {
+			for _, s := range newSegments {
+				if s != nil {
+					// cleanup segments that were opened but not
+					// swapped into the new root
+					_ = s.Close()
+				}
+			}
+		}()
 		for segmentID, path := range newSegmentPaths {
 			newSegments[segmentID], err = zap.Open(path)
 			if err != nil {
-				for _, s := range newSegments {
-					if s != nil {
-						_ = s.Close() // cleanup segments that were successfully opened
-					}
-				}
 				return fmt.Errorf("error opening new segment at %s, %v", path, err)
 			}
 		}
@@ -281,6 +277,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) error {
 					cachedDocs: segmentSnapshot.cachedDocs,
 				}
 				newIndexSnapshot.segment[i] = newSegmentSnapshot
+				delete(newSegments, segmentSnapshot.id)
 				// update items persisted incase of a new segment snapshot
 				atomic.AddUint64(&s.stats.numItemsPersisted, newSegmentSnapshot.Count())
 			} else {
@@ -300,7 +297,19 @@ func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) error {
 			_ = rootPrev.DecRef()
 		}
 	}
-	// allow files to become eligible for removal
+
+	err = tx.Commit()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	err = s.rootBolt.Sync()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// allow files to become eligible for removal after commit, such
+	// as file segments from snapshots that came from the merger
 	s.rootLock.Lock()
 	for _, filename := range filenames {
 		delete(s.ineligibleForRemoval, filename)