diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 46ef4a7..efec186 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -77,3 +77,9 @@ Do this :)
 >>> from pokebase import cache
 >>> cache.API_CACHE
 ```
+
+To delete the existing cache, don't delete files directly, as `shelve`'s file structure is platform-dependant. Indead, do
+```python console
+>>> from pokebase import cache
+>>> cache.empty_cache() 
+```
diff --git a/pokebase/cache.py b/pokebase/cache.py
index 5613d5b..5d3354e 100644
--- a/pokebase/cache.py
+++ b/pokebase/cache.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
+import glob
 import os
 import shelve
 
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 CACHE_DIR = None
 API_CACHE = None
 SPRITE_CACHE = None
+API_CACHE_FILE_NAME = "api.cache"
 
 
 def save(data, endpoint, resource_id=None, subresource=None):
@@ -137,10 +139,18 @@ def set_cache(new_path=None):
         new_path = get_default_cache()
 
     CACHE_DIR = safe_make_dirs(os.path.abspath(new_path))
-    API_CACHE = os.path.join(CACHE_DIR, "api.cache")
+    API_CACHE = os.path.join(CACHE_DIR, API_CACHE_FILE_NAME)
     SPRITE_CACHE = safe_make_dirs(os.path.join(CACHE_DIR, "sprite"))
 
     return CACHE_DIR, API_CACHE, SPRITE_CACHE
 
 
+def empty_cache():
+    """Depending on the database backend that shelve is using, different database files will be created.
+    Shelve does not offer a way to detect which one it has created, so this function catches all of them"""
+    for f in glob.glob(f"{API_CACHE}*"):
+        if os.path.exists(f):
+            os.remove(f)
+
+
 CACHE_DIR, API_CACHE, SPRITE_CACHE = set_cache()
diff --git a/tests/test_module_cache.py b/tests/test_module_cache.py
index 53c1b2c..63c3ef8 100644
--- a/tests/test_module_cache.py
+++ b/tests/test_module_cache.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import importlib
 import os
 import shelve
+import glob
 import unittest
 
 from hypothesis import assume, given
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ def testArg_subresource_Text(self, data, endpoint, resource_id, subresource):
            resource_id=integers(min_value=1))
     def testEnv_CacheFileNotFound(self, data, endpoint, resource_id):
         assume(data != dict())
-        os.remove(cache.API_CACHE)
+        cache.empty_cache()
         self.assertIsNone(cache.save(data, endpoint, resource_id))
 
     @given(data=dictionaries(text(), text()),
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ def testArg_subresource_Text(self, data, endpoint, resource_id, subresource):
     def testEnv_CacheFileNotFound(self, endpoint, resource_id):
         # ensure it exsists before we delete it,
         cache.set_cache('testing')
-        os.remove(cache.API_CACHE)
+        cache.empty_cache()
         with self.assertRaises(KeyError):
             cache.load(endpoint, resource_id)
 
@@ -168,8 +169,7 @@ def testAttr_Caches_Default(self):
     def testEnv_CacheDirNotFound(self):
         cache.set_cache('testing')
         os.rmdir(cache.SPRITE_CACHE)
-        if os.path.exists(cache.API_CACHE): os.remove(cache.API_CACHE)
-        os.rmdir(cache.CACHE_DIR)
+        cache.empty_cache()
         self.assertEqual(cache.set_cache(),
                          (cache.CACHE_DIR, cache.API_CACHE, cache.SPRITE_CACHE))