diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 127be83f..03514bfb 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -47,5 +47,11 @@ function handleLine(line) {
         } else {
             Logger.syslog.log("Failed to invoke GC: node started without --expose-gc");
         }
+    } else if (line === "/delete_old_tables") {
+        require("./lib/database/update").deleteOldChannelTables(function (err) {
+            if (!err) {
+                Logger.syslog.log("Deleted old channel tables");
+            }
+        });
     }
 }
diff --git a/lib/database/update.js b/lib/database/update.js
index ce2b4b76..fcae7fa8 100644
--- a/lib/database/update.js
+++ b/lib/database/update.js
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ module.exports.checkVersion = function () {
             var next = function () {
                 hasUpdates.push(v);
                 if (v < DB_VERSION) {
-                    update(v++, next);
-                } else {
+                    update(v++, next); } else {
                     db.query("UPDATE `meta` SET `value`=? WHERE `key`='db_version'",
                              [DB_VERSION]);
                 }
@@ -45,7 +44,11 @@ function update(version, cb) {
             Q.fcall(mergeChannelLibraries),
             Q.fcall(mergeChannelRanks),
             Q.fcall(mergeChannelBans)
-        ]).done(cb)
+        ]).done(function () {
+            Logger.syslog.log("Merged channel tables.  Please verify that everything " +
+                              "is working correctly, and then type '/delete_old_tables'" +
+                              " into the CyTube process to remove the unused tables.");
+        })
     }
 }
 
@@ -182,3 +185,35 @@ function mergeChannelBans(cb) {
         }
     }).done(cb);
 }
+
+module.exports.deleteOldChannelTables = function (cb) {
+    Q.nfcall(db.query, "SHOW TABLES")
+    .then(function (rows) {
+        rows = rows.map(function (r) {
+            return r[Object.keys(r)[0]];
+        }).filter(function (r) {
+            return r.match(/chan_(.*?)_(library|ranks|bans)$/);
+        });
+
+        var queue = [];
+        rows.forEach(function (table) {
+            queue.push(Q.nfcall(db.query, "DROP TABLE `" + table + "`")
+                .then(function () {
+                    Logger.syslog.log("Deleted " + table);
+                }).catch(function (err) {
+                    Logger.errlog.log("Deleting " + table + " failed: " + err);
+                    if (err.stack) {
+                        Logger.errlog.log(err.stack);
+                    }
+                })
+            );
+        });
+
+        return Q.all(queue);
+    }).catch(function (err) {
+        Logger.errlog.log("Deleting old tables failed: " + err);
+        if (err.stack) {
+            Logger.errlog.log(err.stack);
+        }
+    }).done(cb);
+};