diff --git a/attic/repository.py b/attic/repository.py
index 5b79245be..2c821fb43 100644
--- a/attic/repository.py
+++ b/attic/repository.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ class Repository(object):
         self.path = path
         self.io = None
         self.lock = None
+        self.index = None
         if create:
             self.create(path)
         self.open(path)
@@ -76,8 +77,14 @@ class Repository(object):
         with open(os.path.join(path, 'config'), 'w') as fd:
             config.write(fd)
 
+    def get_index_transaction_id(self):
+        indicies = sorted((int(name[6:]) for name in os.listdir(self.path) if name.startswith('index.') and name[6:].isdigit()))
+        if indicies:
+            return indicies[-1]
+        else:
+            return None
+
     def open(self, path):
-        self.head = None
         self.path = path
         if not os.path.isdir(path):
             raise self.DoesNotExist(path)
@@ -99,7 +106,7 @@ class Repository(object):
             self.lock.release()
             self.lock = None
 
-    def commit(self, rollback=True):
+    def commit(self):
         """Commit transaction
         """
         self.io.write_commit()
@@ -107,13 +114,9 @@ class Repository(object):
         self.write_index()
         self.rollback()
 
-    def _available_indices(self, reverse=False):
-        names = [int(name[6:]) for name in os.listdir(self.path) if re.match('index\.\d+', name)]
-        names.sort(reverse=reverse)
-        return names
-
     def open_index(self, head, read_only=False):
         if head is None:
+            self.lock.upgrade()
             self.index = NSIndex.create(os.path.join(self.path, 'index.tmp').encode('utf-8'))
             self.segments = {}
             self.compact = set()
@@ -121,6 +124,8 @@ class Repository(object):
             if read_only:
                 self.index = NSIndex((os.path.join(self.path, 'index.%d') % head).encode('utf-8'), readonly=True)
             else:
+                self.lock.upgrade()
+                self.io.cleanup()
                 shutil.copy(os.path.join(self.path, 'index.%d' % head),
                             os.path.join(self.path, 'index.tmp'))
                 self.index = NSIndex(os.path.join(self.path, 'index.tmp').encode('utf-8'))
@@ -211,6 +216,8 @@ class Repository(object):
         This method verifies all segment checksums and makes sure
         the index is consistent with the data stored in the segments.
         """
+        if not self.index:
+            self.open_index(self.io.head, read_only=True)
         progress_time = None
         error_found = False
         def report_progress(msg, error=False):
@@ -220,7 +227,7 @@ class Repository(object):
             if error or progress:
                 print(msg, file=sys.stderr)
         seen = set()
-        for segment, filename in self.io._segment_names():
+        for segment, filename in self.io.segment_iterator():
             if progress:
                 if int(time.time()) != progress_time:
                     progress_time = int(time.time())
@@ -250,22 +257,24 @@ class Repository(object):
     def rollback(self):
         """
         """
-        self._active_txn = False
         if self.io:
             self.io.close()
-        self.io = LoggedIO(self.path, self.max_segment_size, self.segments_per_dir)
-        if self.io.head is not None and not os.path.exists(os.path.join(self.path, 'index.%d' % self.io.head)):
-            self.lock.upgrade()
-            self.recover(self.path)
-        self.open_index(self.io.head, read_only=True)
+            self.io = None
+        self.index = None
+        self._active_txn = False
+        self.io = LoggedIO(self.path, self.max_segment_size, self.segments_per_dir, self.get_index_transaction_id())
 
     def _len(self):
+        if not self.index:
+            self.open_index(self.io.head, read_only=True)
         return len(self.index)
 
-    def get(self, id):
+    def get(self, id_):
+        if not self.index:
+            self.open_index(self.io.head, read_only=True)
         try:
-            segment, offset = self.index[id]
-            return self.io.read(segment, offset, id)
+            segment, offset = self.index[id_]
+            return self.io.read(segment, offset, id_)
         except KeyError:
             raise self.DoesNotExist(self.path)
 
@@ -276,7 +285,6 @@ class Repository(object):
     def put(self, id, data, wait=True):
         if not self._active_txn:
             self._active_txn = True
-            self.lock.upgrade()
             self.open_index(self.io.head)
         try:
             segment, _ = self.index[id]
@@ -295,7 +303,6 @@ class Repository(object):
     def delete(self, id, wait=True):
         if not self._active_txn:
             self._active_txn = True
-            self.lock.upgrade()
             self.open_index(self.io.head)
         try:
             segment, offset = self.index.pop(id)
@@ -326,7 +333,7 @@ class LoggedIO(object):
     _commit = header_no_crc_fmt.pack(9, TAG_COMMIT)
     COMMIT = crc_fmt.pack(crc32(_commit)) + _commit
 
-    def __init__(self, path, limit, segments_per_dir, capacity=100):
+    def __init__(self, path, limit, segments_per_dir, latest_index, capacity=100):
         self.path = path
         self.fds = LRUCache(capacity)
         self.segment = None
@@ -335,7 +342,7 @@ class LoggedIO(object):
         self.offset = 0
         self._write_fd = None
         self.head = None
-        self.cleanup()
+        self.verify_segments_head(latest_index)
 
     def close(self):
         for segment in list(self.fds.keys()):
@@ -343,37 +350,45 @@ class LoggedIO(object):
         self.close_segment()
         self.fds = None  # Just to make sure we're disabled
 
-    def _segment_names(self, reverse=False):
+    def segment_iterator(self, reverse=False):
         for dirpath, dirs, filenames in os.walk(os.path.join(self.path, 'data')):
             dirs.sort(key=int, reverse=reverse)
             filenames = sorted((filename for filename in filenames if filename.isdigit()), key=int, reverse=reverse)
             for filename in filenames:
                 yield int(filename), os.path.join(dirpath, filename)
 
+    def verify_segments_head(self, latest_index):
+        """Verify that the transaction id is consistent with the index transaction id
+        """
+        self.segment = 0
+        for segment, filename in self.segment_iterator(reverse=True):
+            if latest_index is None or segment < latest_index:
+                # The index is newer than any committed transaction found
+                raise Repository.CheckNeeded()
+            if self.is_committed_segment(filename):
+                if segment > latest_index:
+                    # The committed transaction found is newer than the index
+                    raise Repository.CheckNeeded()
+                self.head = segment
+                self.segment = self.head + 1
+                break
+        else:
+            if latest_index is not None:
+                # An index has been found but no committed transaction
+                raise Repository.CheckNeeded()
+
     def cleanup(self):
         """Delete segment files left by aborted transactions
         """
-        self.head = None
-        self.segment = 0
-        to_delete = []
-        for segment, filename in self._segment_names(reverse=True):
-            if self.is_complete_segment(filename):
-                self.head = segment
-                self.segment = self.head + 1
-                for filename in to_delete:
-                    os.unlink(filename)
-                break
+        for segment, filename in self.segment_iterator(reverse=True):
+            if segment > self.head:
+                os.unlink(filename)
             else:
-                to_delete.append(filename)
-        else:
-            # Abort if no transaction is found, otherwise all segments
-            # would be deleted
-            if to_delete:
-                raise Repository.CheckNeeded(self.path)
+                break
 
-
-
-    def is_complete_segment(self, filename):
+    def is_committed_segment(self, filename):
+        """Check if segment ends with a COMMIT_TAG tag
+        """
         with open(filename, 'rb') as fd:
             try:
                 fd.seek(-self.header_fmt.size, os.SEEK_END)
diff --git a/attic/testsuite/archiver.py b/attic/testsuite/archiver.py
index b3d5ca8aa..891ec6008 100644
--- a/attic/testsuite/archiver.py
+++ b/attic/testsuite/archiver.py
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ class ArchiverTestCase(AtticTestCase):
 
         def verify_uniqueness():
             repository = Repository(self.repository_path)
+            repository.open_index(repository.io.head)
             for key, _ in repository.index.iteritems():
                 data = repository.get(key)
                 hash = sha256(data).digest()
diff --git a/attic/testsuite/repository.py b/attic/testsuite/repository.py
index c9cb4b27d..778e7bfab 100644
--- a/attic/testsuite/repository.py
+++ b/attic/testsuite/repository.py
@@ -49,20 +49,6 @@ class RepositoryTestCase(AtticTestCase):
         self.repository.commit()
         self.assert_equal(self.repository.get(b'00000000000000000000000000000001'), b'bar')
 
-    def test_index_rebuild(self):
-        """Verify that repository index rebuild works properly
-        """
-        def extract_and_unlink_index():
-            index_name = [n for n in os.listdir(os.path.join(self.tmppath, 'repository')) if n.startswith('index')][0]
-            idx = NSIndex(os.path.join(self.tmppath, 'repository', index_name))
-            os.unlink(os.path.join(self.tmppath, 'repository', index_name))
-            return list(idx.iteritems())
-        self.test2()
-        self.repository.close()
-        before = extract_and_unlink_index()
-        self.open()
-        self.assert_equal(before, extract_and_unlink_index())
-
     def test_consistency(self):
         """Test cache consistency
         """