diff --git a/lib/database.cc b/lib/database.cc
index 16c4354f..2fefcad7 100644
--- a/lib/database.cc
+++ b/lib/database.cc
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ notmuch_database_open (const char *path,
 			 "       read-write mode.\n",
 			 notmuch_path, version, NOTMUCH_DATABASE_VERSION);
 		notmuch->mode = NOTMUCH_DATABASE_MODE_READ_ONLY;
-		notmuch_database_close (notmuch);
+		notmuch_database_destroy (notmuch);
 		notmuch = NULL;
 		goto DONE;
 	    }
@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ notmuch_database_open (const char *path,
     } catch (const Xapian::Error &error) {
 	fprintf (stderr, "A Xapian exception occurred opening database: %s\n",
 		 error.get_msg().c_str());
-	notmuch_database_close (notmuch);
+	notmuch_database_destroy (notmuch);
 	notmuch = NULL;
     }
 
@@ -738,9 +738,19 @@ notmuch_database_close (notmuch_database_t *notmuch)
     }
 
     delete notmuch->term_gen;
+    notmuch->term_gen = NULL;
     delete notmuch->query_parser;
+    notmuch->query_parser = NULL;
     delete notmuch->xapian_db;
+    notmuch->xapian_db = NULL;
     delete notmuch->value_range_processor;
+    notmuch->value_range_processor = NULL;
+}
+
+void
+notmuch_database_destroy (notmuch_database_t *notmuch)
+{
+    notmuch_database_close (notmuch);
     talloc_free (notmuch);
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/notmuch.h b/lib/notmuch.h
index 673c4237..7d9e0921 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch.h
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ typedef struct _notmuch_filenames notmuch_filenames_t;
  *
  * After a successful call to notmuch_database_create, the returned
  * database will be open so the caller should call
- * notmuch_database_close when finished with it.
+ * notmuch_database_destroy when finished with it.
  *
  * The database will not yet have any data in it
  * (notmuch_database_create itself is a very cheap function). Messages
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ typedef enum {
  * An existing notmuch database can be identified by the presence of a
  * directory named ".notmuch" below 'path'.
  *
- * The caller should call notmuch_database_close when finished with
+ * The caller should call notmuch_database_destroy when finished with
  * this database.
  *
  * In case of any failure, this function returns NULL, (after printing
@@ -175,11 +175,25 @@ notmuch_database_t *
 notmuch_database_open (const char *path,
 		       notmuch_database_mode_t mode);
 
-/* Close the given notmuch database, freeing all associated
- * resources. See notmuch_database_open. */
+/* Close the given notmuch database.
+ *
+ * After notmuch_database_close has been called, calls to other
+ * functions on objects derived from this database may either behave
+ * as if the database had not been closed (e.g., if the required data
+ * has been cached) or may fail with a
+ * NOTMUCH_STATUS_XAPIAN_EXCEPTION.
+ *
+ * notmuch_database_close can be called multiple times.  Later calls
+ * have no effect.
+ */
 void
 notmuch_database_close (notmuch_database_t *database);
 
+/* Destroy the notmuch database, closing it if necessary and freeing
+* all associated resources. */
+void
+notmuch_database_destroy (notmuch_database_t *database);
+
 /* Return the database path of the given database.
  *
  * The return value is a string owned by notmuch so should not be