diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/fix.go b/eventstore/mmm/fix.go
index 1e2e820..50f5ad3 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/fix.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/fix.go
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package mmm
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"slices"
 
 	"fiatjaf.com/nostr"
@@ -15,7 +17,7 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 	return b.lmdbEnv.Update(func(mmmtxn *lmdb.Txn) error {
 		cursor, err := mmmtxn.OpenCursor(b.indexId)
 		if err != nil {
-			panic(err)
+			return err
 		}
 		defer cursor.Close()
 
@@ -30,18 +32,17 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 
 			// for every event in this index
 			var borked bool
-			var ts nostr.Timestamp
+
 			// we try to load it
-			if ts_, err := b.loadJustTimestamp(pos); err == nil {
-				// if we succeed we assume the event is ok for now
+			var evt nostr.Event
+			if err := b.loadEvent(pos, &evt); err == nil && bytes.Equal(evt.ID[0:8], key) {
+				// all good
 				borked = false
-				ts = ts_
 			} else {
-				// otherwise we know it's borked
+				// it's borked
 				borked = true
 			}
 
-			evt := &nostr.Event{}
 			var layersToRemove []uint16
 
 			// then for every layer referenced in there we check
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 					continue
 				}
 
-				layer.lmdbEnv.Update(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
+				if err := layer.lmdbEnv.Update(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
 					txn.RawRead = true
 
 					if borked {
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 						if layer.hasAtPosition(txn, pos) {
 							// expected -- delete anyway since it's borked
 							if err := layer.bruteDeleteIndexes(txn, pos); err != nil {
-								panic(err)
+								return err
 							}
 						} else {
 							// this stuff is doubly borked -- let's do nothing
@@ -68,30 +69,13 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 						}
 					} else {
 						// otherwise we do a more reasonable check
-						if layer.hasAtTimestampAndPosition(txn, ts, pos) {
+						if layer.hasAtTimestampAndPosition(txn, evt.CreatedAt, pos) {
 							// expected, all good
 						} else {
 							// can't find it in this layer, so update source reference to remove this
 							// and clear it from this layer (if any traces remain)
-							if evt == nil {
-								if err := b.loadEvent(pos, evt); err != nil {
-									// can't load event, means it's borked
-									borked = true
-
-									// act as if it's borked
-									if err := layer.bruteDeleteIndexes(txn, pos); err != nil {
-										return err
-									}
-
-									return nil
-								} else {
-									goto haveEvent
-								}
-							}
-
-						haveEvent:
-							if err := layer.deleteIndexes(txn, *evt, val[0:12]); err != nil {
-								panic(err)
+							if err := layer.deleteIndexes(txn, evt, val[0:12]); err != nil {
+								return err
 							}
 
 							// we'll remove references to this later
@@ -101,7 +85,9 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 					}
 
 					return nil
-				})
+				}); err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
 			}
 
 			if borked {
@@ -119,7 +105,7 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 
 				if len(val) > 12 {
 					if err := mmmtxn.Put(b.indexId, key, val, 0); err != nil {
-						panic(err)
+						return err
 					}
 				} else {
 					toPurge = append(toPurge, entry{idPrefix: key, pos: pos})
@@ -128,8 +114,11 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) Rescan() error {
 		}
 
 		for _, entry := range toPurge {
-			if err := b.purge(mmmtxn, entry.idPrefix, entry.pos); err != nil {
-				panic(err)
+			// just delete from the ids index,
+			// no need to deal with the freeranges list as it will be recalculated afterwards.
+			// this also ensures any brokenly overlapping overwritten events don't have to be sacrificed.
+			if err := mmmtxn.Del(b.indexId, entry.idPrefix, nil); err != nil {
+				return err
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/fix_test.go b/eventstore/mmm/fix_test.go
index 66a3ffe..ad6a4dc 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/fix_test.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/fix_test.go
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func FuzzBorkedRescan(f *testing.F) {
 					borkedEvents = append(borkedEvents, evt)
 
 					// manually corrupt the mmapped file at these positions
-					copy(mmmm.mmapf[pos.start:], []byte("CORRUPTED_DATA_XXXX"))
+					copy(mmmm.mmapf[pos.start:], []byte("XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"))
 				} else if chance(inconsistencyProbability) {
 					// inconsistently delete from some layers
 					var evt nostr.Event
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/freeranges.go b/eventstore/mmm/freeranges.go
index 045cad0..dc93633 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/freeranges.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/freeranges.go
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) gatherFreeRanges(txn *lmdb.Txn) (positions, error) {
 	// sort used positions by start
 	slices.SortFunc(usedPositions, func(a, b position) int { return cmp.Compare(a.start, b.start) })
 
+	// if there is free space at the end (which doesn't happen in normal conditions) do this to simulate it
+	usedPositions = append(usedPositions, position{start: b.mmapfEnd, size: 0})
+
 	// calculate free ranges as gaps between used positions
 	freeRanges := make(positions, 0, len(usedPositions)/2)
 	var currentStart uint64 = 0
diff --git a/eventstore/mmm/mmmm.go b/eventstore/mmm/mmmm.go
index a30d728..6ae5739 100644
--- a/eventstore/mmm/mmmm.go
+++ b/eventstore/mmm/mmmm.go
@@ -293,13 +293,6 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) loadEvent(pos position, eventReceiver *nostr.Event) e
 	return betterbinary.Unmarshal(b.mmapf[pos.start:pos.start+uint64(pos.size)], eventReceiver)
 }
 
-func (b *MultiMmapManager) loadJustTimestamp(pos position) (nostr.Timestamp, error) {
-	if len(b.mmapf) < int(pos.start+uint64(pos.size)) {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("out of bounds")
-	}
-	return betterbinary.GetCreatedAt(b.mmapf[pos.start : pos.start+uint64(pos.size)]), nil
-}
-
 // getNextAvailableLayerId iterates through all existing layers to find a vacant id
 func (b *MultiMmapManager) getNextAvailableLayerId(txn *lmdb.Txn) (uint16, error) {
 	cursor, err := txn.OpenCursor(b.knownLayers)