diff --git a/src/appdb.js b/src/appdb.js
index 61709e672..444a483d5 100644
--- a/src/appdb.js
+++ b/src/appdb.js
@@ -270,7 +270,6 @@ function add(id, appStoreId, manifest, location, domain, ownerId, portBindings,
     assert.strictEqual(typeof ownerId, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof portBindings, 'object');
     assert(data && typeof data === 'object');
-    assert(typeof data.mailboxName === 'string' && data.mailboxName); // non-empty string
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
     portBindings = portBindings || { };
@@ -289,13 +288,13 @@ function add(id, appStoreId, manifest, location, domain, ownerId, portBindings,
     const env = data.env || {};
     const label = data.label || null;
     const tagsJson = data.tags ? JSON.stringify(data.tags) : null;
-    const mailboxName = data.mailboxName;
+    const mailboxName = data.mailboxName || null;
 
     var queries = [];
 
     queries.push({
         query: 'INSERT INTO apps (id, appStoreId, manifestJson, installationState, accessRestrictionJson, memoryLimit, xFrameOptions,'
-            + 'restoreConfigJson, sso, debugModeJson, robotsTxt, ownerId, mailboxName, label, tagsJson) ' +
+            + 'restoreConfigJson, sso, debugModeJson, robotsTxt, ownerId, mailboxName, label, tagsJson) '
             + ' VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)',
         args: [ id, appStoreId, manifestJson, installationState, accessRestrictionJson, memoryLimit, xFrameOptions, restoreConfigJson,
             sso, debugModeJson, robotsTxt, ownerId, mailboxName, label, tagsJson ]
diff --git a/src/eventlogdb.js b/src/eventlogdb.js
index 27cfff500..3fa5ef3d5 100644
--- a/src/eventlogdb.js
+++ b/src/eventlogdb.js
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ function clear(callback) {
     database.query('DELETE FROM eventlog', function (error) {
         if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
-        callback(error);
+        callback(null);
     });
 }
 
@@ -153,19 +153,19 @@ function delByCreationTime(creationTime, callback) {
     assert(util.isDate(creationTime));
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    // since notifications reference eventlog items, we have to clean them up as well
-    database.query('SELECT * FROM eventlog WHERE creationTime < ?', [ creationTime ], function (error, result) {
+    // remove notifications that reference the events as well
+    database.query('SELECT * FROM eventlog WHERE creationTime <= ?', [ creationTime ], function (error, result) {
         if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
-        async.eachSeries(result, function (item, callback) {
-            database.query('DELETE FROM notifications WHERE eventId=?', [ item.id ], function (error) {
-                if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
+        async.eachSeries(result, function (item, iteratorCallback) {
+            async.series([
+                database.query.bind(null, 'DELETE FROM notifications WHERE eventId=?', [ item.id ]),
+                database.query.bind(null, 'DELETE FROM eventlog WHERE id=?', [ item.id ])
+            ], iteratorCallback);
+        }, function (error) {
+            if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
-                database.query('DELETE FROM eventlog WHERE id=?', [ item.id ], function (error) {
-                    if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
-                    callback();
-                });
-            });
-        }, callback);
+            callback(null);
+        });
     });
 }
diff --git a/src/test/database-test.js b/src/test/database-test.js
index 21c9376ca..342b025ed 100644
--- a/src/test/database-test.js
+++ b/src/test/database-test.js
@@ -250,10 +250,10 @@ describe('database', function () {
         });
 
         it('update succeeds', function (done) {
-            notificationdb.update(NOTIFICATION_1.id, { acknowledged: true }, function (error, result) {
+            notificationdb.update(NOTIFICATION_1.id, { acknowledged: true }, function (error) {
                 expect(error).to.equal(null);
 
-                notificationdb.get(result, function (error, result) {
+                notificationdb.get(NOTIFICATION_1.id, function (error, result) {
                     expect(error).to.equal(null);
                     expect(result.id).to.equal(NOTIFICATION_1.id);
                     expect(result.title).to.equal(NOTIFICATION_1.title);
@@ -299,39 +299,6 @@ describe('database', function () {
                 done();
             });
         });
-
-        it('can upsert acked notification without eventId', function (done) {
-            notificationdb.update(NOTIFICATION_3.id, { acknowledged: true }, function (error, result) {
-                expect(error).to.equal(null);
-                expect(result).to.be.a('string');
-
-                // check message also gets updated
-                NOTIFICATION_3.message = 'new message';
-
-                notificationdb.get(NOTIFICATION_3.id, function (error, result) {
-                    expect(error).to.equal(null);
-
-                    var oldCreationTime = result.creationTime;
-
-                    // wait to verify the creationTime update
-                    setTimeout(function () {
-                        notificationdb.upsert(NOTIFICATION_3, function (error, result) {
-                            expect(error).to.equal(null);
-                            expect(result).to.equal(NOTIFICATION_3.id);
-
-                            notificationdb.get(NOTIFICATION_3.id, function (error, result) {
-                                expect(error).to.equal(null);
-                                expect(result.acknowledged).to.equal(false);
-                                expect(result.message).to.equal(NOTIFICATION_3.message);
-                                expect(result.creationTime).to.be.greaterThan(oldCreationTime);
-
-                                done();
-                            });
-                        });
-                    }, 1000);
-                });
-            });
-        });
     });
 
     describe('domains', function () {
@@ -454,7 +421,9 @@ describe('database', function () {
             env: {},
             mailboxName: 'talktome',
             enableAutomaticUpdate: true,
-            dataDir: ''
+            dataDir: '',
+            tags: [],
+            label: null
         };
 
         it('cannot delete referenced domain', function (done) {
@@ -1036,7 +1005,9 @@ describe('database', function () {
             },
             mailboxName: 'talktome',
             enableAutomaticUpdate: true,
-            dataDir: ''
+            dataDir: '',
+            tags: [],
+            label: null
         };
 
         var APP_1 = {
@@ -1067,7 +1038,9 @@ describe('database', function () {
             env: {},
             mailboxName: 'callme',
             enableAutomaticUpdate: true,
-            dataDir: ''
+            dataDir: '',
+            tags: [],
+            label: null
         };
 
         before(function (done) {
@@ -1864,7 +1837,7 @@ describe('database', function () {
             }, function (error) {
                 expect(error).to.be(null);
 
-                eventlogdb.delByCreationTime(new Date(), function (error) {
+                eventlogdb.delByCreationTime(new Date(Date.now() + 1000), function (error) {
                     expect(error).to.be(null);
 
                     eventlogdb.getAllPaged([], null, 1, 100, function (error, results) {