diff --git a/lib/http/irmin_http.ml b/lib/http/irmin_http.ml
index 92e355d845..90a70c42e5 100644
--- a/lib/http/irmin_http.ml
+++ b/lib/http/irmin_http.ml
@@ -162,11 +162,6 @@ module Helper (Client: Cohttp_lwt.Client) = struct
   let get_stream t path ?query fn  =
     map_get t path ?query (map_stream_response fn)
 
-  let delete t path fn =
-    let uri = uri_append t path in
-    Log.debug "delete %s" (Uri.path uri);
-    Client.delete ~headers uri >>= map_string_response fn
-
   let make_body ?task body =
     let str l = Ezjsonm.to_string (`O l) in
     let str_t = Irmin.Task.to_json in
@@ -186,6 +181,12 @@ module Helper (Client: Cohttp_lwt.Client) = struct
     in
     short_body, body
 
+  let delete t ~task path fn =
+    let uri = uri_append t path in
+    let short_body, body = make_body ?task None in
+    Log.debug "delete %s %s" (Uri.path uri) short_body;
+    Client.delete ?body ~headers uri >>= map_string_response fn
+
   let map_post t ~task path ?query body fn =
     let uri = make_uri t path query in
     let short_body, body = make_body ?task body in
@@ -284,7 +285,7 @@ module RW (Client: Cohttp_lwt.Client) (K: Irmin.Hum.S) (V: Tc.S0) = struct
   let update t key value =
     post t ~task:None ["update"; K.to_hum key] (some @@ V.to_json value) Tc.unit
 
-  let remove t key = delete t ["remove"; K.to_hum key] Tc.unit
+  let remove t key = delete ~task:None t ["remove"; K.to_hum key] Tc.unit
 
   module CS = Tc.Pair(Tc.Option(V))(Tc.Option(V))
 
@@ -523,7 +524,10 @@ struct
   let err_not_persistent = invalid_arg "Irmin_http.%s: not a persistent branch"
 
   let get t = get (uri t)
-  let delete t = delete (uri t)
+
+  let delete t =
+    let task = Some (task t) in
+    delete (uri t) ~task
 
   let post t path ?query body =
     let task = Some (task t) in
diff --git a/lib/http/irmin_http_server.ml b/lib/http/irmin_http_server.ml
index 3d20522d38..f0d3b3af71 100644
--- a/lib/http/irmin_http_server.ml
+++ b/lib/http/irmin_http_server.ml
@@ -689,8 +689,29 @@ module Make (HTTP: SERVER) (D: DATE) (S: Irmin.S) = struct
     let query = Uri.query uri in
     let return_dnone = Lwt.return (None, None) in
     begin match Cohttp.Request.meth req with
-      | `DELETE
       | `GET  -> return_dnone
+      | `DELETE ->
+        Cohttp_lwt_body.length body >>= fun (len, body) ->
+        if len = 0L then
+          return_dnone
+        else begin
+          Cohttp_lwt_body.to_string body >>= fun b ->
+          let short_body =
+            if String.length b > 80 then String.sub b 0 80 ^ ".." else b
+          in
+          Log.debug "process DELETE: length=%Ld body=%S" len short_body;
+          try match Ezjsonm.from_string b with
+            | `O l ->
+              let task =
+                try Some (Irmin.Task.of_json @@ List.assoc "task" l)
+                with Not_found -> None
+              in
+              Lwt.return (task, None)
+            | _    ->
+              error "process: wrong parameters"
+          with e ->
+            error "process: not a valid JSON body %S [%s]" b (Printexc.to_string e)
+        end
       | `POST ->
         Cohttp_lwt_body.length body >>= fun (len, body) ->
         if len = 0L then
@@ -700,7 +721,7 @@ module Make (HTTP: SERVER) (D: DATE) (S: Irmin.S) = struct
           let short_body =
             if String.length b > 80 then String.sub b 0 80 ^ ".." else b
           in
-          Log.debug "process: length=%Ld body=%S" len short_body;
+          Log.debug "process POST: length=%Ld body=%S" len short_body;
           try match Ezjsonm.from_string b with
             | `O l ->
               let params = try Some (List.assoc "params" l) with Not_found -> None in