diff --git a/src/topics/thumbs.js b/src/topics/thumbs.js
index 39e7c39e71..f2bacf74d3 100644
--- a/src/topics/thumbs.js
+++ b/src/topics/thumbs.js
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ Thumbs.associate = async function ({ id, path, score }) {
 	// Associate thumbnails with the main pid (only on local upload)
 	if (!isDraft && isLocal) {
 		const mainPid = (await topics.getMainPids([id]))[0];
-		await posts.uploads.associate(mainPid, path);
+		await posts.uploads.associate(mainPid, path.slice(1));
 	}
 };
 
@@ -136,10 +136,11 @@ Thumbs.delete = async function (id, relativePaths) {
 		}
 	});
 
-	await Promise.all([
-		db.sortedSetRemove(set, toRemove),
-		Promise.all(toDelete.map(async absolutePath => file.delete(absolutePath))),
-	]);
+	await db.sortedSetRemove(set, toRemove);
+
+	if (isDraft && toDelete.length) { // drafts only; post upload dissociation handles disk deletion for topics
+		await Promise.all(toDelete.map(async absolutePath => file.delete(absolutePath)));
+	}
 
 	if (toRemove.length && !isDraft) {
 		const topics = require('.');
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ Thumbs.delete = async function (id, relativePaths) {
 
 		await Promise.all([
 			db.incrObjectFieldBy(`topic:${id}`, 'numThumbs', -toRemove.length),
-			Promise.all(toRemove.map(async relativePath => posts.uploads.dissociate(mainPid, relativePath.replace('/files/', '')))),
+			Promise.all(toRemove.map(async relativePath => posts.uploads.dissociate(mainPid, relativePath.slice(1)))),
 		]);
 	}
 };
diff --git a/test/topics/thumbs.js b/test/topics/thumbs.js
index 58fb464595..8486947b76 100644
--- a/test/topics/thumbs.js
+++ b/test/topics/thumbs.js
@@ -182,13 +182,13 @@ describe('Topic thumbs', () => {
 
 		it('should associate the thumbnail with that topic\'s main pid\'s uploads', async () => {
 			const uploads = await posts.uploads.list(mainPid);
-			assert(uploads.includes(path.basename(relativeThumbPaths[0])));
+			assert(uploads.includes(relativeThumbPaths[0].slice(1)));
 		});
 
 		it('should maintain state in the topic\'s main pid\'s uploads if posts.uploads.sync() is called', async () => {
 			await posts.uploads.sync(mainPid);
 			const uploads = await posts.uploads.list(mainPid);
-			assert(uploads.includes(path.basename(relativeThumbPaths[0])));
+			assert(uploads.includes(relativeThumbPaths[0].slice(1)));
 		});
 
 		it('should combine the thumbs uploaded to a UUID zset and combine it with a topic\'s thumb zset', async () => {
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ describe('Topic thumbs', () => {
 	});
 
 	describe(`.delete()`, () => {
-		it('should remove a file from sorted set AND disk', async () => {
+		it('should remove a file from sorted set', async () => {
 			await topics.thumbs.associate({
 				id: 1,
 				path: thumbPaths[0],
@@ -225,7 +225,6 @@ describe('Topic thumbs', () => {
 			await topics.thumbs.delete(1, relativeThumbPaths[0]);
 
 			assert.strictEqual(await db.isSortedSetMember('topic:1:thumbs', relativeThumbPaths[0]), false);
-			assert.strictEqual(await file.exists(thumbPaths[0]), false);
 		});
 
 		it('should no longer be associated with that topic\'s main pid\'s uploads', async () => {
@@ -430,9 +429,9 @@ describe('Topic thumbs', () => {
 			assert.strictEqual(await db.exists(`topic:${topicObj.tid}:thumbs`), false);
 		});
 
-		it('should not leave files behind', async () => {
-			const exists = await Promise.all(thumbPaths.slice(0, 2).map(async absolutePath => file.exists(absolutePath)));
-			assert.strictEqual(exists.some(Boolean), false);
+		it('should not leave post upload associations behind', async () => {
+			const uploads = await db.getSortedSetMembers(`post:${topicObj.postData.pid}:uploads`);
+			assert.strictEqual(uploads.length, 0);
 		});
 	});
 });