diff --git a/include/taur.hpp b/include/taur.hpp
index 2b52284..207875f 100644
--- a/include/taur.hpp
+++ b/include/taur.hpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <rapidjson/stringbuffer.h>
 #include "cpr/cpr.h"
 #include <sys/wait.h>
+#include "util.hpp"
 
 class Config;
 
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ class TaurBackend {
     optional<TaurPkg_t> fetch_pkg(string pkg, bool returnGit);
     vector<TaurPkg_t>   fetch_pkgs(vector<string> pkgs, bool returnGit);
     bool                remove_pkg(alpm_pkg_t *pkgs, bool ownTransaction = true);
-    bool                remove_pkgs(alpm_list_t *pkgs);
+    bool                remove_pkgs(alpm_list_smart_pointer &pkgs);
     bool                handle_aur_depends(TaurPkg_t pkg, path out_path, vector<TaurPkg_t> localPkgs, bool useGit);
     bool                build_pkg(string pkg_name, string extracted_path, bool alreadyprepared);
     bool                update_all_aur_pkgs(string cacheDir, bool useGit);
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 811a815..76b47d7 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -256,17 +256,21 @@ bool removePkg(alpm_list_t *pkgNames) {
     if (!pkgNames)
         return false;
 
-    alpm_list_t *ret = nullptr;
+    alpm_list_t *temp_ret = nullptr;
 
     alpm_list_t *regexQuery = nullptr;
 
     for (; pkgNames; pkgNames = pkgNames->next)
         regexQuery = alpm_list_add(regexQuery, (void *)((".*" + string((const char *)(pkgNames->data)) + ".*").c_str()));
 
-    if (alpm_db_search(alpm_get_localdb(config->handle), regexQuery, &ret) != 0)
+    alpm_list_free(regexQuery);
+
+    if (alpm_db_search(alpm_get_localdb(config->handle), regexQuery, &temp_ret) != 0)
         return false;
 
-    size_t ret_length = alpm_list_count(ret);
+    alpm_list_smart_pointer ret(temp_ret, alpm_list_free);
+
+    size_t ret_length = alpm_list_count(ret.get());
 
     if (ret_length == 0) {
         log_println(LOG_ERROR, "No packages found!");
@@ -279,7 +283,7 @@ bool removePkg(alpm_list_t *pkgNames) {
     fmt::println("Choose packages to remove, (Seperate by spaces, type * to remove all):");
 
     for (size_t i = 0; i < ret_length; i++) {
-        fmt::println("[{}] {}", i, alpm_pkg_get_name((alpm_pkg_t *)(alpm_list_nth(ret, i)->data)));
+        fmt::println("[{}] {}", i, alpm_pkg_get_name((alpm_pkg_t *)(alpm_list_nth(ret.get(), i)->data)));
     }
 
     string included;
@@ -287,8 +291,8 @@ bool removePkg(alpm_list_t *pkgNames) {
 
     vector<string> includedIndexes  = split(included, ' ');
 
-    alpm_list_t   *finalPackageList = nullptr;
-    alpm_list_t   *finalPackageListStart = nullptr;
+    alpm_list_t *finalPackageList = nullptr;
+    alpm_list_t *finalPackageListStart = nullptr;
 
     if (included == "*")
         return backend->remove_pkgs(ret);
@@ -300,18 +304,27 @@ bool removePkg(alpm_list_t *pkgNames) {
             if (includedIndex >= ret_length)
                 continue;
 
-            finalPackageList = alpm_list_add(finalPackageList, alpm_list_nth(ret, includedIndex)->data);
+            finalPackageList = alpm_list_add(finalPackageList, alpm_list_nth(ret.get(), includedIndex)->data);
 
             if (finalPackageList != nullptr && finalPackageListStart == nullptr)
                 finalPackageListStart = finalPackageList;
 
         } catch (std::invalid_argument const&) {
             log_println(LOG_WARN, "Invalid argument! Assuming all.");
+
+            if (finalPackageListStart != nullptr)
+                alpm_list_free(finalPackageListStart);
+            else if (finalPackageList != nullptr)
+                alpm_list_free(finalPackageList);
+
             return backend->remove_pkgs(ret);
         }
     }
 
-    return backend->remove_pkgs(finalPackageListStart);
+    // take control of the list and pass it to the smart pointer
+    alpm_list_smart_pointer finalList = make_list_smart_pointer(finalPackageListStart);
+
+    return backend->remove_pkgs(finalList);
 }
 
 bool updateAll() {
diff --git a/src/taur.cpp b/src/taur.cpp
index 35a80b9..e2a2291 100644
--- a/src/taur.cpp
+++ b/src/taur.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "util.hpp"
 #include "taur.hpp"
 #include "config.hpp"
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ bool TaurBackend::remove_pkg(alpm_pkg_t *pkg, bool ownTransaction) {
   @param pkgs alpm list of alpm_pkg_t pointers to remove.
   @return success.
 */
-bool TaurBackend::remove_pkgs(alpm_list_t *pkgs) {
+bool TaurBackend::remove_pkgs(alpm_list_smart_pointer &pkgs) {
     if (!pkgs)
         return false;
 
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ bool TaurBackend::remove_pkgs(alpm_list_t *pkgs) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    size_t pkgs_length = alpm_list_count(pkgs);
+    size_t pkgs_length = alpm_list_count(pkgs.get());
 
     if (pkgs_length == 0) {
         log_println(LOG_ERROR, "Couldn't find any packages!");
@@ -177,8 +178,8 @@ bool TaurBackend::remove_pkgs(alpm_list_t *pkgs) {
         return this->remove_pkg((alpm_pkg_t *)(pkgs->data), false) && commitTransactionAndRelease();
     }
 
-    for (; pkgs; pkgs = pkgs->next) {
-        bool success = this->remove_pkg((alpm_pkg_t *)(pkgs->data), false);
+    for (alpm_list_t *pkgsGet = pkgs.get(); pkgsGet; pkgsGet = pkgsGet->next) {
+        bool success = this->remove_pkg((alpm_pkg_t *)(pkgsGet->data), false);
         if (!success) {
             alpm_trans_release(this->config.handle);
             return false;
@@ -379,6 +380,9 @@ bool TaurBackend::update_all_aur_pkgs(string cacheDir, bool useGit) {
         string pkgFolder = cacheDir + '/' + onlinePkgs[i].name;
         sanitizeStr(pkgFolder);
 
+        if (!useGit)
+            std::filesystem::remove_all(pkgFolder);
+
         bool downloadSuccess = this->download_pkg(onlinePkgs[i].url, pkgFolder);
 
         if (!downloadSuccess) {