diff --git a/src/etc/rc.routing_configure b/src/etc/rc.routing_configure
index b7612dc12..c7793096b 100755
--- a/src/etc/rc.routing_configure
+++ b/src/etc/rc.routing_configure
@@ -34,6 +34,14 @@ require_once 'interfaces.inc';
 require_once 'filter.inc';
 require_once 'rrd.inc';
 
+// drop deleted routes
+foreach (glob("/tmp/delete_route_*.todo") as $filename) {
+    $network = trim(file_get_contents($filename));
+    $inet = (is_subnetv6($network) ? "-inet6" : "-inet");
+    mwexec("/sbin/route delete {$inet} " . escapeshellarg($network), true);
+    unlink($filename);
+}
+
 system_routing_configure('', true);
 filter_configure_sync(true);
 setup_gateways_monitor(true);
diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Routes/Api/RoutesController.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Routes/Api/RoutesController.php
index bda5b0da5..304f6e8e8 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Routes/Api/RoutesController.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/controllers/OPNsense/Routes/Api/RoutesController.php
@@ -122,6 +122,8 @@ class RoutesController extends ApiControllerBase
             if ($mdlRoute->route->del($uuid)) {
                 // if item is removed, serialize to config and save
                 $mdlRoute->serializeToConfig();
+                // we don't know for sure if this route was already removed, flush to disk to remove on apply
+                file_put_contents("/tmp/delete_route_{$uuid}.todo", (string)$node->network);
                 Config::getInstance()->save();
                 $result['result'] = 'deleted';
             } else {