diff --git a/navi/core/pg_session_store.py b/navi/core/pg_session_store.py
index 55cfd03..c23160f 100644
--- a/navi/core/pg_session_store.py
+++ b/navi/core/pg_session_store.py
@@ -823,10 +823,16 @@
             return await _build_sessions(conn, rows)
 
     async def delete(self, session_id: str) -> bool:
+        # A never-persisted session lives only in _pending (lazy persistence:
+        # create() defers the row until the first save()), so the bare DB
+        # DELETE alone reports 0 rows for a very real session. Pop the
+        # pending entry first, then count the DB result.
+        async with self._pending_lock:
+            pending = self._pending.pop(session_id, None)
         pool = await self._get_pool()
         async with pool.acquire() as conn:
             result = await conn.execute("DELETE FROM sessions WHERE id = $1", session_id)
-        return result == "DELETE 1"
+        return pending is not None or result == "DELETE 1"
 
     async def count_all(
         self,