diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8bc1a90a3f..b8a21c5aca 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 - [#7231](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/issues/7231): Duplicate parsing bug in ALTER RETENTION POLICY.
 - [#7285](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/issues/7285): Correctly use password-type field in Admin UI. Thanks @dandv!
 - [#2792](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/issues/2792): Exceeding max retention policy duration gives incorrect error message
+- [#7226](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/issues/7226): Fix database locked up when deleting shards
 
 ## v1.0.0 [2016-09-08]
 
diff --git a/tsdb/shard.go b/tsdb/shard.go
index 5b93980159..3b56b12382 100644
--- a/tsdb/shard.go
+++ b/tsdb/shard.go
@@ -263,6 +263,12 @@ func (s *Shard) Open() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// UnloadIndex removes all references to this shard from the DatabaseIndex
+func (s *Shard) UnloadIndex() {
+	// Don't leak our shard ID and series keys in the index
+	s.index.RemoveShard(s.id)
+}
+
 // Close shuts down the shard's store.
 func (s *Shard) Close() error {
 	s.mu.Lock()
@@ -283,7 +289,7 @@ func (s *Shard) close() error {
 	}
 
 	// Don't leak our shard ID and series keys in the index
-	s.index.RemoveShard(s.id)
+	s.UnloadIndex()
 
 	err := s.engine.Close()
 	if err == nil {
diff --git a/tsdb/store.go b/tsdb/store.go
index 5fafec58c5..44198269b1 100644
--- a/tsdb/store.go
+++ b/tsdb/store.go
@@ -357,6 +357,11 @@ func (s *Store) DeleteShard(shardID uint64) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// Remove the shard from the database indexes before closing the shard.
+	// Closing the shard will do this as well, but it will unload it while
+	// the shard is locked which can block stats collection and other calls.
+	sh.UnloadIndex()
+
 	if err := sh.Close(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}