diff --git a/indexer/src/pkg.rs b/indexer/src/pkg.rs
index 4d0fe0c..654de1a 100644
--- a/indexer/src/pkg.rs
+++ b/indexer/src/pkg.rs
@@ -51,10 +51,14 @@ pub struct PkgOpt<'a> {
 fn insert_pkg(tr: &mut postgres::Transaction, opt: &PkgOpt) -> Option<i32> {
     let pkginfo = format!("sys {} / {} / {} - {} @ {:?} @ {}", opt.sys, opt.cat, opt.pkg, opt.ver, opt.date, opt.file.path);
 
-    // The ON CONFLICT .. DO UPDATE is used instead of DO NOTHING because in that case the
-    // RETURNING clause wouldn't give us a package id.
-    let q = "INSERT INTO packages (system, category, name) VALUES($1, $2, $3)
-        ON CONFLICT ON CONSTRAINT packages_system_name_category_key DO UPDATE SET name=$3 RETURNING id";
+    // Use a custom CTE-based insert-or-update. Using an INSERT with an ON CONFLICT clause would be
+    // easier, but has the downside of allocating a new package id even if one already exists.
+    // The separate UPDATE query makes sure to unflag the package as dead while not causing any
+    // database writes when the row's already fine.
+    let q = "WITH p(id) AS (SELECT id FROM packages WHERE system = $1 AND category = $2 AND name = $3),
+                  u     AS (UPDATE packages SET dead = FALSE FROM p WHERE packages.id = p.id AND dead),
+                  i(id) AS (INSERT INTO packages (system, category, name) SELECT $1, $2, $3 WHERE NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM p) RETURNING id)
+             SELECT id FROM p UNION SELECT id FROM i";
     let pkgid: i32 = match tr.query_one(q, &[&opt.sys, &opt.cat, &opt.pkg]) {
         Err(e) => {
             error!("Can't insert package in database: {}", e);
diff --git a/indexer/src/sys_arch.rs b/indexer/src/sys_arch.rs
index 665a220..4c0ea41 100644
--- a/indexer/src/sys_arch.rs
+++ b/indexer/src/sys_arch.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::io::{Read,BufRead,BufReader,Result};
+use std::collections::HashSet;
 use regex::Regex;
 use chrono::NaiveDateTime;
 use postgres;
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ pub fn sync<T: postgres::GenericClient>(pg: &mut T, sys: i32, mirror: &str, repo
 
     let mut hasman = false;
     let mut meta = None;
+    let mut allpkgs = HashSet::new();
     let r = archive::walk(ent, |x| {
         if x.filetype() == archive::FileType::Directory {
             hasman = false;
@@ -120,6 +122,7 @@ pub fn sync<T: postgres::GenericClient>(pg: &mut T, sys: i32, mirror: &str, repo
                     canbelocal: false,
                 },
             });
+            allpkgs.insert(m.name.into_boxed_str());
         }
 
         Ok(true)
@@ -128,4 +131,30 @@ pub fn sync<T: postgres::GenericClient>(pg: &mut T, sys: i32, mirror: &str, repo
     if let Err(e) = r {
         error!("Error reading package index: {}", e);
     }
+    mark_dead(pg, sys, repo, allpkgs);
+}
+
+fn mark_dead<T: postgres::GenericClient>(pg: &mut T, sys: i32, repo: &str, pkgs: HashSet<Box<str>>) {
+    let mut dead = Vec::new();
+    for row in pg.query("SELECT id, name FROM packages WHERE system = $1 AND category = $2 AND NOT dead", &[&sys,&repo]).unwrap() {
+        let id: i32 = row.get(0);
+        let name: &str = row.get(1);
+        if !pkgs.contains(name) {
+            info!("Package not available in database anymore, marking dead; sys {} / {} / pkg {} ({})", sys, repo, id, name);
+            dead.push(id);
+        }
+    }
+    if dead.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let mut tr = pg.transaction().unwrap();
+    let q = tr.prepare("UPDATE packages SET dead = TRUE WHERE id = $1").unwrap();
+    for id in dead {
+        tr.execute(&q, &[&id]).unwrap();
+    }
+
+    if let Err(e) = tr.commit() {
+        error!("Error finishing transaction: {}", e);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/sql/schema.sql b/sql/schema.sql
index c81d284..2ab0ca9 100644
--- a/sql/schema.sql
+++ b/sql/schema.sql
@@ -19,8 +19,15 @@ CREATE TABLE contents (
 CREATE TABLE packages (
   id       SERIAL    PRIMARY KEY,
   system   integer   NOT NULL REFERENCES systems(id) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE,
-  category varchar,
+  category varchar   NOT NULL,
   name     varchar   NOT NULL,
+  -- Whether this package has been seen in the last repository update. This
+  -- field is only updated for a few systems that are likely to delete packages
+  -- over time; non-rolling-release distros tend to not delete packages after
+  -- all.
+  -- Packages where the latest version does not have any man pages may also be
+  -- marked as dead even if the package is still available in the repos.
+  dead     boolean   NOT NULL DEFAULT FALSE,
   UNIQUE(system, name, category) -- Note the order, lookups on (system,name) are common
 );
 
diff --git a/sql/update-2021-12-13b.sql b/sql/update-2021-12-13b.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9dad7ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/update-2021-12-13b.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+ALTER TABLE packages
+    ALTER COLUMN category SET NOT NULL,
+    ADD COLUMN dead     boolean   NOT NULL DEFAULT FALSE;
diff --git a/www/index.pl b/www/index.pl
index acd7ec7..c6143da 100755
--- a/www/index.pl
+++ b/www/index.pl
@@ -781,10 +781,10 @@ TUWF::get qr{/pkg/([^/]+)} => sub {
         p => { onerror => 1, uint => 1, range => [1,200] },
     )->data;
 
-    my $where = sql 'system =', \$sys->{id}, $f->{c} ne 'all' ? ('AND match_firstchar(name,', \$f->{c}, ')') : ();
+    my $where = sql 'NOT dead AND system =', \$sys->{id}, $f->{c} ne 'all' ? ('AND match_firstchar(name,', \$f->{c}, ')') : ();
     my $count = tuwf->dbVali('SELECT count(*) FROM', $packages_with_man, 'p WHERE', $where);
     my $pkg = tuwf->dbPagei({ results => 200, page => $f->{p} },
-        'SELECT id, system, name, category FROM', $packages_with_man, 'p WHERE', $where, 'ORDER BY name, category'
+        'SELECT id, system, name, category, dead FROM', $packages_with_man, 'p WHERE', $where, 'ORDER BY name, category'
     );
 
     my $title = $sys->{name}.($sys->{release}?" $sys->{release}":"");