diff --git a/dependencies/lmdb/libraries/liblmdb/mdb.c b/dependencies/lmdb/libraries/liblmdb/mdb.c
index 43929a510..a47fcaec3 100644
--- a/dependencies/lmdb/libraries/liblmdb/mdb.c
+++ b/dependencies/lmdb/libraries/liblmdb/mdb.c
@@ -1656,7 +1656,6 @@ struct MDB_env {
 #	define		me_freelist_written_end	me_pgstate.mf_written_end
 	unsigned int me_maxfreepgs_to_load; /**< max freelist entries to load into memory */
 	unsigned int me_maxfreepgs_to_retain; /**< max freelist entries to load into memory */
-	int			me_freelist_state;		/**< state of writing freelist (if it is being deleted) */
 	MDB_page	*me_dpages;		/**< list of malloc'd blocks for re-use */
 	/** IDL of pages that became unused in a write txn */
 	MDB_IDL		me_free_pgs;
@@ -2856,7 +2855,6 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 		load_more:
 		if (op == MDB_SET_RANGE) {	/* 1st iteration */
 			/* Prepare to fetch more and coalesce */
-			if (env->me_freelist_state & MDB_FREELIST_DELETING) break;
 			oldest = env->me_pgoldest;
 			mdb_cursor_init(&m2, txn, FREE_DBI, NULL);
 #if (MDB_DEVEL) & 2	/* "& 2" so MDB_DEVEL=1 won't hide bugs breaking freeDB */
@@ -2883,20 +2881,6 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 				key.mv_size = sizeof(last);
 				rc = mdb_cursor_get(&m2, &key, NULL, op);
 				op = MDB_NEXT; // now iterate forwards through the txns of free list
-				if (rc) {
-					if (rc == MDB_NOTFOUND) { // if not found, go to the beginning of the range and look for older txns
-						if (env->me_freelist_state & MDB_FREELIST_DELETING) {
-							//fprintf(stderr, "Skipping unsafe backwards iteration 1\n");
-							break; // but can't iterate backwards in deletion mode
-						}
-						mdb_cursor_last(&m2, &key, NULL);
-						env->me_freelist_end = oldest;
-						op = MDB_PREV;
-						rc = mdb_cursor_get(&m2, &key, NULL, op);
-					}
-					if (rc && rc != MDB_NOTFOUND) goto fail;
-				}
-				mdb_cassert(&m2, key.mv_size > 0);
 				last = *(txnid_t *) key.mv_data;
 			} else {
 				// no more transactions to read going forward through newest, we are now going
@@ -2911,11 +2895,6 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 			}
 		} else {
 			// we are now iterating through the free list entries
-			// first, we need to check if we are in free-list deletion mode, in which case it is not safe to iterate backwards and we have to bail out
-			if (op == MDB_PREV && (env->me_freelist_state & MDB_FREELIST_DELETING)) {
-				//fprintf(stderr, "Skipping unsafe backwards iteration 1\n");
-				break;
-			}
 			// now iterate
 			rc = mdb_cursor_get(&m2, &key, NULL, op);
 			if (rc && rc != MDB_NOTFOUND)
@@ -2928,13 +2907,12 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 		if (op == MDB_NEXT) {
 			// iterating forward from the freelist range to find newer transactions
 			if (last >= oldest || rc == MDB_NOTFOUND) {
-				if (!rc) env->me_freelist_end = oldest;
+				env->me_freelist_end = oldest;
 				// no more newer transactions, go to the beginning of the range and look for older txns
-				if (env->me_freelist_state & MDB_FREELIST_DELETING) break;
 				op = MDB_SET_RANGE;
 				if (env->me_freelist_start <= 1) break; // should be no zero entry, break out
 				last = env->me_freelist_start - 1;
-				key.mv_data = &last; // start at the end of the freelist and read newer transactions free pages
+				key.mv_data = &last; // start at the start of the freelist and read older transactions free pages
 				key.mv_size = sizeof(last);
 				mdb_cursor_init(&m2, txn, FREE_DBI, NULL);
 				rc = mdb_cursor_get(&m2, &key, NULL, op);
@@ -2946,8 +2924,7 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 							if (rc == MDB_NOTFOUND) break;
 							else goto fail;
 						}
-					}
-					goto fail;
+					} else goto fail;
 				}
 				mdb_cassert(&m2, key.mv_size > 0);
 				last = *(txnid_t*)key.mv_data;
@@ -2956,21 +2933,6 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 					rc = MDB_NOTFOUND;
 					goto fail;
 				}
-				if (last >= env->me_freelist_start) {
-					// go to previous entry, through next iteration
-					rc = mdb_cursor_get(&m2, &key, NULL, op);
-					if (rc) {
-						if (rc == MDB_NOTFOUND) {
-							// reached the very start, mark it as 1
-							env->me_freelist_start = 1;
-							break;
-						}
-						goto fail;
-					} else
-						mdb_cassert(&m2, key.mv_size > 0);
-						last = *(txnid_t*)key.mv_data;
-				}
-				env->me_freelist_start = last;
 			} else
 				env->me_freelist_end = last + 1;
 		} else {
@@ -2979,6 +2941,26 @@ mdb_page_alloc(MDB_cursor *mc, int num, MDB_page **mp)
 				env->me_freelist_start = 1;
 				break;
 			}
+		}
+		if (op == MDB_PREV) {
+			// move to previous entry until we are before the last start time.
+			// note that occasionally this might take multiple iterations if we are in the middle of a
+			// rebalance and a node being moved
+			while (last >= env->me_freelist_start) {
+				// go to previous entry, through prev iteration
+				rc = mdb_cursor_get(&m2, &key, NULL, MDB_PREV);
+				if (rc) {
+					if (rc == MDB_NOTFOUND) {
+						// reached the very start, mark it as 1
+						env->me_freelist_start = 1;
+						break;
+					}
+					goto fail;
+				} else
+					mdb_cassert(&m2, key.mv_size > 0);
+				last = *(txnid_t *) key.mv_data;
+			}
+			if (rc == MDB_NOTFOUND) break;
 			env->me_freelist_start = last;
 		}
 		if (!last) {
@@ -4288,9 +4270,7 @@ mdb_freelist_save(MDB_txn *txn)
 				total_room = head_room = 0;
 				mdb_tassert(txn, head_id >= env->me_freelist_start);
 				//fprintf(stderr, "Deleting free list record %u\n", head_id);
-				env->me_freelist_state = MDB_FREELIST_DELETING; // signal that we are deleting from the freelist, which means we can't iterate backwards
 				rc = mdb_cursor_del(&mc, 0);
-				env->me_freelist_state = 0;
 				if (rc) {
 					last_error = "Attempting to delete free-space record";
 					return rc;
@@ -10509,7 +10489,6 @@ mdb_node_move(MDB_cursor *csrc, MDB_cursor *cdst, int fromleft)
 	if ((rc = mdb_page_touch(csrc)) ||
 	    (rc = mdb_page_touch(cdst)))
 		return rc;
-
 	if (IS_LEAF2(csrc->mc_pg[csrc->mc_top])) {
 		key.mv_size = csrc->mc_db->md_pad;
 		key.mv_data = LEAF2KEY(csrc->mc_pg[csrc->mc_top], csrc->mc_ki[csrc->mc_top], key.mv_size);
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index dd0330b9d..d0a6781d8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "msgpackr": "^1.9.9",
     "node-addon-api": "^6.1.0",
-    "node-gyp-build-optional-packages": "5.1.1",
+    "node-gyp-build-optional-packages": "5.2.0",
     "ordered-binary": "^1.4.1",
     "weak-lru-cache": "^1.2.2"
   },
diff --git a/test/index.test.js b/test/index.test.js
index a141f31e4..01bd71279 100644
--- a/test/index.test.js
+++ b/test/index.test.js
@@ -414,11 +414,18 @@ describe('lmdb-js', function () {
 				let promise;
 				let additive = 'this is more text';
 				for (let i = 0; i < 7; i++) additive += additive;
+				let read_txn = db.useReadTransaction();
 				for (let i = 0; i < 5000; i++) {
+					if (Math.random() < 0.3) {
+						read_txn.done();
+						read_txn = db.useReadTransaction();
+					}
 					let text = 'this is a test';
 					while (random() < 0.95) text += additive;
-					promise = db.put(i % 10, text);
-					if (i % 16 == 0) {
+					if (random() < 0.4) promise = db.remove(i % 40);
+					else promise = db.put(i % 40, text);
+
+					if (i % 2 == 0) {
 						await promise;
 					}
 				}