diff --git a/lib/oga/xml/node_set.rb b/lib/oga/xml/node_set.rb
index d50f193..385bd2a 100644
--- a/lib/oga/xml/node_set.rb
+++ b/lib/oga/xml/node_set.rb
@@ -188,7 +188,11 @@ module Oga
       # Removes a node from the current set only.
       #
       def delete(node)
-        @nodes.delete(node)
+        removed = @nodes.delete(node)
+
+        remove_ownership(removed) if removed
+
+        return removed
       end
 
       ##
diff --git a/spec/oga/xml/node_set_spec.rb b/spec/oga/xml/node_set_spec.rb
index 14f6ab9..7ec5aa0 100644
--- a/spec/oga/xml/node_set_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/oga/xml/node_set_spec.rb
@@ -223,8 +223,9 @@ describe Oga::XML::NodeSet do
 
   context '#delete' do
     before do
-      @n1  = Oga::XML::Element.new(:name => 'a')
-      @set = described_class.new([@n1])
+      owner = Oga::XML::Element.new
+      @n1   = Oga::XML::Element.new
+      @set  = described_class.new([@n1], owner)
     end
 
     example 'return the node when deleting it' do
@@ -236,6 +237,12 @@ describe Oga::XML::NodeSet do
 
       @set.empty?.should == true
     end
+
+    example 'remove ownership of the removed node' do
+      @set.delete(@n1)
+
+      @n1.node_set.nil?.should == true
+    end
   end
 
   context '#attribute' do