diff --git a/src/ZoneTree.UnitTests/BottomSegmentMergeTests.cs b/src/ZoneTree.UnitTests/BottomSegmentMergeTests.cs
index 4e8625d..aa97fb1 100644
--- a/src/ZoneTree.UnitTests/BottomSegmentMergeTests.cs
+++ b/src/ZoneTree.UnitTests/BottomSegmentMergeTests.cs
@@ -270,7 +270,51 @@ public sealed class BottomSegmentMergeTests
     }
   }
 
-  static ZoneTreeOptions<int, int> CreateMultiPartBottomMergeOptions()
+  [Test]
+  public void MultiPartCreatorDropBeforeHeaderIsWrittenDropsPendingPart()
+  {
+    var options = CreateMultiPartBottomMergeOptions(
+        "data/MultiPartCreatorDropBeforeHeaderIsWrittenDropsPendingPart");
+    var idProvider = new IncrementalIdProvider();
+    try
+    {
+      using var creator = new MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator<int, int>(
+          options,
+          idProvider);
+
+      creator.Append(1, 1, IteratorPosition.None);
+
+      Assert.That(
+          options.RandomAccessDeviceManager.DeviceExists(
+              2,
+              DiskSegmentConstants.DataCategory,
+              isCompressed: true),
+          Is.True);
+
+      Assert.DoesNotThrow(() => creator.DropDiskSegment());
+
+      Assert.That(
+          options.RandomAccessDeviceManager.DeviceExists(
+              1,
+              DiskSegmentConstants.MultiPartDiskSegmentCategory,
+              isCompressed: false),
+          Is.False);
+      Assert.That(
+          options.RandomAccessDeviceManager.DeviceExists(
+              2,
+              DiskSegmentConstants.DataCategory,
+              isCompressed: true),
+          Is.False);
+      Assert.That(options.RandomAccessDeviceManager.DeviceCount, Is.EqualTo(0));
+    }
+    finally
+    {
+      options.RandomAccessDeviceManager.DropStore();
+    }
+  }
+
+  static ZoneTreeOptions<int, int> CreateMultiPartBottomMergeOptions(
+      string dataDirectory = "data/PartialMultiPartBottomMerge")
   {
     var logger = new ConsoleLogger(LogLevel.Error);
     var options = new ZoneTreeOptions<int, int>
@@ -283,7 +327,7 @@ public sealed class BottomSegmentMergeTests
       RandomAccessDeviceManager = new RandomAccessDeviceManager(
             logger,
             new InMemoryFileStreamProvider(),
-            "data/PartialMultiPartBottomMerge"),
+            dataDirectory),
       DiskSegmentOptions = new DiskSegmentOptions
       {
         DiskSegmentMode = DiskSegmentMode.MultiPartDiskSegment,
diff --git a/src/ZoneTree/Segments/MultiPart/MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator.cs b/src/ZoneTree/Segments/MultiPart/MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator.cs
index 5d0347b..66a7a6b 100644
--- a/src/ZoneTree/Segments/MultiPart/MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator.cs
+++ b/src/ZoneTree/Segments/MultiPart/MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator.cs
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ public sealed class MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator<TKey, TValue> : IDiskSegmentCrea
         if (NextCreator.Length == 0)
         {
             NextCreator.DropDiskSegment();
+            NextCreator = null;
         }
         else
         {
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@ public sealed class MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator<TKey, TValue> : IDiskSegmentCrea
             PartValues.Add(LastAppendedValue);
             var part = NextCreator.CreateReadOnlyDiskSegment();
             Parts.Add(part);
+            NextCreator = null;
         }
 
         WriteMultiDiskSegment();
@@ -238,21 +240,34 @@ public sealed class MultiPartDiskSegmentCreator<TKey, TValue> : IDiskSegmentCrea
                 continue;
             part.Drop();
         }
-        using var multiDevice = Options.RandomAccessDeviceManager
-            .GetReadOnlyDevice(
-                SegmentId,
-                DiskSegmentConstants.MultiPartDiskSegmentCategory,
-                isCompressed: false,
-                compressionBlockSize: 0,
-                MultiPartDiskSegment<TKey, TValue>.MultiPartHeaderCompressionMethod,
-                MultiPartDiskSegment<TKey, TValue>.MultiPartHeaderCompressionLevel);
+
+        NextCreator?.DropDiskSegment();
+        NextCreator = null;
+
+        var randomAccessDeviceManager = Options.RandomAccessDeviceManager;
+        if (!randomAccessDeviceManager.DeviceExists(
+            SegmentId,
+            DiskSegmentConstants.MultiPartDiskSegmentCategory,
+            isCompressed: false))
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        using var multiDevice = randomAccessDeviceManager.GetReadOnlyDevice(
+            SegmentId,
+            DiskSegmentConstants.MultiPartDiskSegmentCategory,
+            isCompressed: false,
+            compressionBlockSize: 0,
+            MultiPartDiskSegment<TKey, TValue>.MultiPartHeaderCompressionMethod,
+            MultiPartDiskSegment<TKey, TValue>.MultiPartHeaderCompressionLevel);
 
         multiDevice.Delete();
-        Options.RandomAccessDeviceManager
-            .RemoveReadOnlyDevice(SegmentId, DiskSegmentConstants.MultiPartDiskSegmentCategory);
+        randomAccessDeviceManager.RemoveReadOnlyDevice(
+            SegmentId,
+            DiskSegmentConstants.MultiPartDiskSegmentCategory);
     }
 
     public void Dispose()
     {
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}