diff --git a/mayan/apps/document_indexing/api.py b/mayan/apps/document_indexing/api.py
index 2d76bc0301..8b6ec5f1f9 100644
--- a/mayan/apps/document_indexing/api.py
+++ b/mayan/apps/document_indexing/api.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 # External functions
-def update_indexes(document):
+def index_document(document):
     """
     Update or create all the index instances related to a document
     """
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ def update_indexes(document):
 
     warnings = []
 
+    for index_node in IndexInstanceNode.objects.filter(documents=document):
+        index_node.documents.remove(document)
+
     # Only update indexes where the document type is found or that do not have any document type specified
     # TODO: explicit document type selection, none != all
     for index in Index.objects.filter(Q(enabled=True) & (Q(document_types=None) | Q(document_types=document.document_type))):
@@ -86,4 +89,4 @@ def task_delete_empty_index_nodes_recursive(instance_node):
         # same conditions
         parent = instance_node.parent
         instance_node.delete()
-        delete_empty_indexes(parent)
+        task_delete_empty_index_nodes_recursive(parent)