diff --git a/atdb/prune.py b/atdb/prune.py
index 547de7d049c3c13c238f48ce46dfb02e46aac752..fa2e15af8cdc870e561d6f938528a18cacd6ac23 100644
--- a/atdb/prune.py
+++ b/atdb/prune.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def remove_surl_locations(surls: List[str], dry_run=False) -> None:
 
             logger.debug("removing surl %s", surl)
             logger.debug("file stats are: %s", context.stat(surl))
-            context.release(surl)
+            context.unlink(surl)
         else:
             logger.info("[dry-run] removing surl %s", surl)
             logger.info("file stats are: %s", context.stat(surl))