diff --git a/src/common/slurmdbd_defs.c b/src/common/slurmdbd_defs.c
index 33856aa873a8d7829d6454a50b01e2c4018d49d8..93e52c67aa5125df0488fd7994a7ff8109cba807 100644
--- a/src/common/slurmdbd_defs.c
+++ b/src/common/slurmdbd_defs.c
@@ -2421,7 +2421,8 @@ static int _purge_job_start_req(void)
 		unpack16(&msg_type, buffer);
 		set_buf_offset(buffer, offset);
 		if ((msg_type == DBD_JOB_START) ||
-		    (msg_type == DBD_STEP_START)) {
+		    (msg_type == DBD_STEP_START) ||
+		    (msg_type == DBD_STEP_COMPLETE)) {
 			list_remove(iter);
 			purged++;
 		}