diff --git a/js/id/actions/merge_remote_changes.js b/js/id/actions/merge_remote_changes.js
index 768c6089a..326070b6d 100644
--- a/js/id/actions/merge_remote_changes.js
+++ b/js/id/actions/merge_remote_changes.js
@@ -63,31 +63,44 @@ iD.actions.MergeRemoteChanges = function(id, localGraph, remoteGraph, formatUser
     }
 
 
-    function mergeChildNodes(target, children, updates, graph) {
+    function mergeChildren(target, children, updates, graph) {
+        function isUsed(node) {
+            return node.hasInterestingTags() ||
+                graph.parentWays(node).length > 0 ||
+                graph.parentRelations(node).length > 0;
+        }
+
         var ccount = conflicts.length;
 
         for (var i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
             var id = children[i],
                 node = graph.hasEntity(id);
 
-            // remove unwanted.
+            // remove unused childNodes.
             if (target.nodes.indexOf(id) === -1) {
-                if (node && !node.hasInterestingTags()) updates.removeIds.push(id);
+                if (node && !isUsed(node)) {
+                    updates.removeIds.push(id);
+                }
                 continue;
             }
 
+            // restore used childNodes..
             var localNode = localGraph.hasEntity(id),
-                remoteNode = remoteGraph.hasEntity(id);
+                remoteNode = remoteGraph.hasEntity(id),
+                targetNode;
 
-            // restore wanted..
-            if (option === 'force_remote') {
-                if (remoteNode) updates.replacements.push(remoteNode);
-            } else if (localNode && remoteNode) {
-                var targetNode = iD.Entity(localNode, { version: remoteNode.version });
-                if (option !== 'force_local') {
-                    targetNode = mergeLocation(remoteNode, targetNode);
-                    if (conflicts.length !== ccount) break;
-                }
+            if (remoteNode && option === 'force_remote') {
+                updates.replacements.push(remoteNode);
+
+            } else if (localNode && option === 'force_local') {
+                targetNode = iD.Entity(localNode,
+                    { version: (remoteNode ? remoteNode.version : localNode.version + 1) });
+                updates.replacements.push(targetNode);
+
+            } else if (localNode && remoteNode && option === 'safe') {
+                targetNode = iD.Entity(localNode, { version: remoteNode.version });
+                targetNode = mergeLocation(remoteNode, targetNode);
+                if (conflicts.length !== ccount) break;
                 updates.replacements.push(targetNode);
             }
         }
@@ -96,6 +109,17 @@ iD.actions.MergeRemoteChanges = function(id, localGraph, remoteGraph, formatUser
     }
 
 
+    function updateChildren(updates, graph) {
+        for (var i = 0; i < updates.replacements.length; i++) {
+            graph = graph.replace(updates.replacements[i]);
+        }
+        if (updates.removeIds.length) {
+            graph = iD.actions.DeleteMultiple(updates.removeIds)(graph);
+        }
+        return graph;
+    }
+
+
     function mergeMembers(remote, target) {
         if (option === 'force_local' || _.isEqual(target.members, remote.members)) {
             return target;
@@ -157,19 +181,42 @@ iD.actions.MergeRemoteChanges = function(id, localGraph, remoteGraph, formatUser
     //  `graph.base()` --- ... --- `remoteGraph`
     //
     var action = function(graph) {
-        var base = graph.base().entities[id],
+        var updates = { replacements: [], removeIds: [] },
+            base = graph.base().entities[id],
             local = localGraph.entity(id),
-            remote = remoteGraph.entity(id),
-            target = iD.Entity(local, { version: remote.version }),
-            updates = { replacements: [], removeIds: [] };
+            remote = remoteGraph.hasEntity(id),
+            target;
+
+        // delete/undelete
+        if (!remote) {
+            if (option === 'force_remote') {
+                return iD.actions.DeleteMultiple([id])(graph);
+
+            } else if (option === 'force_local') {
+                target = iD.Entity(local, { version: local.version + 1 });
+                if (target.type === 'way') {
+                    target = mergeChildren(target, _.uniq(local.nodes), updates, graph);
+                    graph = updateChildren(updates, graph);
+                }
+                return graph.replace(target);
+
+            } else {
+                return graph;  // do nothing
+            }
+        }
+
+        // merge
+        target = iD.Entity(local, { version: remote.version });
 
         if (target.type === 'node') {
             target = mergeLocation(remote, target);
+
         } else if (target.type === 'way') {
             // pull in any child nodes that may not be present locally..
             graph.rebase(remoteGraph.childNodes(remote), [graph], false);
             target = mergeNodes(base, remote, target);
-            target = mergeChildNodes(target, _.union(local.nodes, remote.nodes), updates, graph);
+            target = mergeChildren(target, _.union(local.nodes, remote.nodes), updates, graph);
+
         } else if (target.type === 'relation') {
             target = mergeMembers(remote, target);
         }
@@ -177,13 +224,7 @@ iD.actions.MergeRemoteChanges = function(id, localGraph, remoteGraph, formatUser
         target = mergeTags(base, remote, target);
 
         if (!conflicts.length) {
-            graph = graph.replace(target);
-            for (var i = 0; i < updates.replacements.length; i++) {
-                graph = graph.replace(updates.replacements[i]);
-            }
-            if (updates.removeIds.length) {
-                graph = iD.actions.DeleteMultiple(updates.removeIds)(graph);
-            }
+            graph = updateChildren(updates, graph).replace(target);
         }
 
         return graph;
diff --git a/js/id/modes/save.js b/js/id/modes/save.js
index 74435d401..2a391b62c 100644
--- a/js/id/modes/save.js
+++ b/js/id/modes/save.js
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ iD.modes.Save = function(context) {
             remoteGraph = iD.Graph(history.base(), true),
             modified = _.filter(history.difference().summary(), {changeType: 'modified'}),
             toCheck = _.pluck(_.pluck(modified, 'entity'), 'id'),
-            deletedIds = [],
             conflicts = [],
             errors = [];
 
@@ -36,6 +35,7 @@ iD.modes.Save = function(context) {
 
                 if (err) {
                     if (err.status === 410) {   // Status: Gone (contains no responseText)
+                        remoteGraph.remove(remoteGraph.hasEntity(id));
                         addDeleteConflict(id);
                     } else {
                         errors.push({
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ iD.modes.Save = function(context) {
 
 
         function addDeleteConflict(id) {
-            if (deletedIds.indexOf(id) !== -1) return;
-            else deletedIds.push(id);
-
-            var local = localGraph.entity(id);
+            var local = localGraph.entity(id),
+                action = iD.actions.MergeRemoteChanges,
+                forceLocal = action(id, localGraph, remoteGraph).withOption('force_local'),
+                forceRemote = action(id, localGraph, remoteGraph).withOption('force_remote');
 
             conflicts.push({
                 id: id,
@@ -69,17 +69,10 @@ iD.modes.Save = function(context) {
                 details: [ t('save.conflict.deleted') ],
                 chosen: 1,
                 choices: [
-                    choice(id, t('save.conflict.restore'), undelete(local)),
-                    choice(id, t('save.conflict.delete'), iD.actions.DeleteMultiple([id]))
+                    choice(id, t('save.conflict.restore'), forceLocal),
+                    choice(id, t('save.conflict.delete'), forceRemote)
                 ],
             });
-
-            function undelete(entity) {
-                return function(graph) {
-                    var target = iD.Entity(entity, { version: +entity.version + 1 });
-                    return graph.replace(target);
-                };
-            }
         }
 
 
@@ -95,8 +88,8 @@ iD.modes.Save = function(context) {
 
             if (diff.length()) return;  // merged safely
 
-            var forceLocal = action(id, localGraph, remoteGraph, formatUser).withOption('force_local'),
-                forceRemote = action(id, localGraph, remoteGraph, formatUser).withOption('force_remote');
+            var forceLocal = action(id, localGraph, remoteGraph).withOption('force_local'),
+                forceRemote = action(id, localGraph, remoteGraph).withOption('force_remote');
 
             conflicts.push({
                 id: id,
@@ -308,7 +301,7 @@ iD.modes.Save = function(context) {
                         (i === 1 && index === conflicts.length - 1) || null;
                 })
                 .on('click', function(d, i) {
-                    var container = parent.select('.conflict-container'), //d3.select(this.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement),
+                    var container = parent.select('.conflict-container'),
                     sign = (i === 0 ? -1 : 1);
 
                     container