diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3cf6856..7874f47 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ dig @localhost 192.168.0.1.sslip.io +short
 ## Quick Start Tests
 
 ```bash
-go get github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo
+go install github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo@latest
 go get github.com/onsi/gomega/...
 sudo ~/go/bin/ginkgo -r .
  # sudo is required on Linux, but not on macOS, to bind to privileged port 53
diff --git a/src/sslip.io-dns-server/integration_test.go b/src/sslip.io-dns-server/integration_test.go
index d3023fb..76a2d79 100644
--- a/src/sslip.io-dns-server/integration_test.go
+++ b/src/sslip.io-dns-server/integration_test.go
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ var _ = Describe("sslip.io-dns-server", func() {
 				`TypeTXT my-key.k-v.io. \? \["MyValue"\]`),
 			Entry(`deleting a value: TXT for delete.my-key.k-v.io"`,
 				"@127.0.0.1 delete.my-key.k-v.io txt +short",
-				`"MyValue"`,
-				`TypeTXT delete.my-key.k-v.io. \? \["MyValue"\]`),
+				`\A\z`,
+				`TypeTXT delete.my-key.k-v.io. \? nil, SOA delete.my-key.k-v.io. briancunnie.gmail.com. 2022020800 900 900 1800 180\n$`),
 			Entry(`getting a non-existent value: TXT for my-key.k-v.io"`,
 				"@127.0.0.1 my-key.k-v.io txt +short",
 				`\A\z`,
@@ -256,14 +256,21 @@ var _ = Describe("sslip.io-dns-server", func() {
 				Eventually(digSession, 1).Should(Exit(0))
 				Eventually(string(serverSession.Err.Contents())).Should(MatchRegexp(`TypeTXT b.k-v.io. \? \["a"\]`))
 			})
-			It(`the DELETE has a three-minute TTL`, func() {
+			It(`the DELETE returns no records so that value cached in downstream DNS servers expires more quickly`, func() {
 				digArgs = "@localhost delete.b.k-v.io txt -p " + strconv.Itoa(port)
 				digCmd = exec.Command("dig", strings.Split(digArgs, " ")...)
 				digSession, err = Start(digCmd, GinkgoWriter, GinkgoWriter)
 				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-				Eventually(digSession).Should(Say(`delete.b.k-v.io.	180	IN	TXT	"a"`))
 				Eventually(digSession, 1).Should(Exit(0))
-				Eventually(string(serverSession.Err.Contents())).Should(MatchRegexp(`TypeTXT delete.b.k-v.io. \? \["a"\]`))
+				Eventually(string(serverSession.Err.Contents())).Should(MatchRegexp(`TypeTXT delete.b.k-v.io. \? nil, SOA delete.b.k-v.io. briancunnie.gmail.com. 2022020800 900 900 1800 180`))
+			})
+			It(`the DELETE on a non-existent key behaves the same as the DELETE on an existing key`, func() {
+				digArgs = "@localhost delete.b.k-v.io txt -p " + strconv.Itoa(port)
+				digCmd = exec.Command("dig", strings.Split(digArgs, " ")...)
+				digSession, err = Start(digCmd, GinkgoWriter, GinkgoWriter)
+				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+				Eventually(digSession, 1).Should(Exit(0))
+				Eventually(string(serverSession.Err.Contents())).Should(MatchRegexp(`TypeTXT delete.b.k-v.io. \? nil, SOA delete.b.k-v.io. briancunnie.gmail.com. 2022020800 900 900 1800 180`))
 			})
 		})
 		When(`a record for an "_acme-challenge" domain is queried`, func() {
diff --git a/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip.go b/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip.go
index 989fe69..9e83d3e 100644
--- a/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip.go
+++ b/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip.go
@@ -88,7 +88,6 @@ type KvCustomizations map[string][]dnsmessage.TXTResource
 // There's nothing like global variables to make my heart pound with joy.
 // Some of these are global because they are, in essence, constants which
 // I don't want to waste time recreating with every function call.
-// But `Customizations` is a true global variable.
 var (
 	ipv4REDots   = regexp.MustCompile(`(^|[.-])(((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1?[0-9])?[0-9])\.){3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1?[0-9])?[0-9]))($|[.-])`)
 	ipv4REDashes = regexp.MustCompile(`(^|[.-])(((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1?[0-9])?[0-9])-){3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1?[0-9])?[0-9]))($|[.-])`)
@@ -116,7 +115,15 @@ var (
 	VersionDate     = "0001/01/01-99:99:99-0800"
 	VersionGitHash  = "cafexxx"
 
-	MetricsBufferSize = 100
+	MetricsBufferSize = 100 // big enough to run our tests, and small enough to prevent DNS amplification attacks
+
+	// etcdContextTimeout — the duration (context) that we wait for etcd to get back to us
+	// - etcd queries on the nameserver take as long as 482 milliseconds on the "slow" server, 247 on the "fast"
+	// - round-trip time from my house in San Francisco to ns-azure in Singapore is 190 milliseconds
+	// - time between queries with `dig` on my macOS Monterey is 5000 milliseconds, three queries before giving up
+	// - quadruple the headroom for queries 4 x 482 = 1928, should still leave enough room to get answer back
+	//   within the 5000 milliseconds
+	etcdContextTimeout = 1928 * time.Millisecond
 
 	TxtKvCustomizations = KvCustomizations{}
 	Customizations      = DomainCustomizations{
@@ -652,6 +659,7 @@ func NameToA(fqdnString string) []dnsmessage.AResource {
 			ipv4address := net.ParseIP(match).To4()
 			// We shouldn't reach here because `match` should always be valid, but we're not optimists
 			if ipv4address == nil {
+				// e.g. "ubuntu20.04.235.249.181-notify.sslip.io."
 				log.Printf("----> Should be valid A but isn't: %s\n", fqdn) // TODO: delete this
 				return []dnsmessage.AResource{}
 			}
@@ -864,7 +872,7 @@ func (x *Xip) getKv(key string) ([]dnsmessage.TXTResource, error) {
 		}
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Millisecond*500)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), etcdContextTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	resp, err := x.Etcd.Get(ctx, key)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -888,7 +896,7 @@ func (x *Xip) putKv(key, value string) ([]dnsmessage.TXTResource, error) {
 		}
 		return TxtKvCustomizations[key], nil
 	}
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Millisecond*500)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), etcdContextTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	_, err := x.Etcd.Put(ctx, key, value)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -899,28 +907,18 @@ func (x *Xip) putKv(key, value string) ([]dnsmessage.TXTResource, error) {
 
 func (x *Xip) deleteKv(key string) ([]dnsmessage.TXTResource, error) {
 	if x.isEtcdNil() {
-		if deletedKey, ok := TxtKvCustomizations[key]; ok {
+		if _, ok := TxtKvCustomizations[key]; ok {
 			delete(TxtKvCustomizations, key)
-			return deletedKey, nil
 		}
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Millisecond*500)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), etcdContextTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
-	getResp, err := x.Etcd.Get(ctx, key) // is the key set?
+	_, err := x.Etcd.Delete(ctx, key)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`couldn't GET "%s": %w`, key, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("couldn't DELETE (key %s): %w", key, err)
 	}
-	if len(getResp.Kvs) == 0 { // nothing to delete
-		return []dnsmessage.TXTResource{}, nil
-	}
-	// the key is set; we need to delete it
-	value := string(getResp.Kvs[0].Value)
-	_, err = x.Etcd.Delete(ctx, key)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("couldn't DELETE (%s: %s): %w", key, value, err)
-	}
-	return []dnsmessage.TXTResource{{[]string{value}}}, nil
+	return nil, nil
 }
 
 // soaLogMessage returns an easy-to-read string for logging SOA Answers/Authorities
@@ -1174,7 +1172,7 @@ func clientv3New(etcdEndpoint string) (*clientv3.Client, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	// Let's do a query to determine if etcd is really, truly there
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Millisecond*500)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), etcdContextTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	_, err = etcdCli.Get(ctx, "some-silly-key, doesn't matter if it exists")
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip_test.go b/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip_test.go
index 3508650..9881a5f 100644
--- a/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip_test.go
+++ b/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip_test.go
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Xip", func() {
 					Entry("getting that value → that value", "my-key.k-v.io.", []string{"MyValue"}),
 					Entry("getting that value with an UPPERCASE key → that value", "MY-KEY.k-v.io.", []string{"MyValue"}),
 					Entry("explicitly getting that value → that value", "GeT.my-key.k-v.io.", []string{"MyValue"}),
-					Entry("deleting that value → the deleted value", "DelETe.my-key.k-v.io.", []string{"MyValue"}),
+					Entry("deleting that value → empty array", "DelETe.my-key.k-v.io.", []string{}),
 					Entry("getting that deleted value → empty array", "my-key.k-v.io.", []string{}),
 					// errors
 					Entry("getting a non-existent key → empty array", "nonexistent.k-v.io.", []string{}),