diff --git a/network/default.go b/network/default.go
index 799bc643..35d72184 100644
--- a/network/default.go
+++ b/network/default.go
@@ -331,10 +331,15 @@ func (n *network) processNetChan(client transport.Client, listener tunnel.Listen
 					continue
 				}
 				log.Debugf("Network received close message from: %s", pbNetClose.Node.Id)
-				if err := n.pruneNode(pbNetClose.Node.Id); err != nil {
-					log.Debugf("Network failed to prune the node %s: %v", pbNetClose.Node.Id, err)
-					continue
+				n.node.Lock()
+				peer := &node{
+					id:      pbNetClose.Node.Id,
+					address: pbNetClose.Node.Address,
 				}
+				if err := n.prunePeer(peer); err != nil {
+					log.Debugf("Network failed to prune node %s routes: %v", peer.id, err)
+				}
+				n.node.Unlock()
 			}
 		case <-n.closed:
 			return
@@ -393,20 +398,13 @@ func (n *network) announce(client transport.Client) {
 	}
 }
 
-// pruneNode removes a node with given id from the list of peers. It also removes all routes originted by this node.
-func (n *network) pruneNode(id string) error {
-	// DeletePeer serializes access
-	n.node.DeletePeer(id)
-	// lookup all the routes originated at this node
-	q := router.NewQuery(
-		router.QueryRouter(id),
-	)
+// pruneRoutes prunes routes return by given query
+func (n *network) pruneRoutes(q router.Query) error {
 	routes, err := n.Router.Table().Query(q)
 	if err != nil && err != router.ErrRouteNotFound {
 		return err
 	}
-	// delete the found routes
-	log.Logf("Network deleting routes originated by router: %s", id)
+
 	for _, route := range routes {
 		if err := n.Router.Table().Delete(route); err != nil && err != router.ErrRouteNotFound {
 			return err
@@ -416,8 +414,41 @@ func (n *network) pruneNode(id string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// prune the nodes that have not been seen for certain period of time defined by PruneTime
-// Additionally, prune also removes all the routes originated by these nodes
+// pruneNodeRoutes prunes routes that were either originated by or routable via given node
+func (n *network) prunePeerRoutes(peer *node) error {
+	// lookup all routes originated by router
+	q := router.NewQuery(
+		router.QueryRouter(peer.id),
+	)
+	if err := n.pruneRoutes(q); err != nil {
+		log.Debugf("Network failed deleting routes originated by %s: %s", peer.id, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// lookup all routes routable via gw
+	q = router.NewQuery(
+		router.QueryGateway(peer.address),
+	)
+	if err := n.pruneRoutes(q); err != nil {
+		log.Debugf("Network failed deleting routes routable via gateway %s: %s", peer.address, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// prunePeer prune peer from network node as well as all all the routes associated with it
+func (n *network) prunePeer(peer *node) error {
+	delete(n.node.peers, peer.id)
+	if err := n.prunePeerRoutes(peer); err != nil {
+		log.Debugf("Network failed to prune %s routes: %v", peer.id, err)
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// prune deltes node peers that have not been seen for longer than PruneTime seconds
+// prune also removes all the routes either originated by or routable by the stale nodes
 func (n *network) prune() {
 	prune := time.NewTicker(PruneTime)
 	defer prune.Stop()
@@ -427,20 +458,19 @@ func (n *network) prune() {
 		case <-n.closed:
 			return
 		case <-prune.C:
-			n.Lock()
-			for id, node := range n.peers {
+			n.node.Lock()
+			for id, peer := range n.peers {
 				if id == n.options.Id {
 					continue
 				}
-				if time.Since(node.lastSeen) > PruneTime {
-					log.Debugf("Network deleting node %s: reached prune time threshold", id)
-					if err := n.pruneNode(id); err != nil {
-						log.Debugf("Network failed to prune the node %s: %v", id, err)
-						continue
+				if time.Since(peer.lastSeen) > PruneTime {
+					log.Debugf("Network peer exceeded prune time: %s", id)
+					if err := n.prunePeer(peer); err != nil {
+						log.Debugf("Network failed to prune %s: %s", id, err)
 					}
 				}
 			}
-			n.Unlock()
+			n.node.Unlock()
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/network/node.go b/network/node.go
index b9c362bb..86cc83fb 100644
--- a/network/node.go
+++ b/network/node.go
@@ -71,12 +71,15 @@ func (n *node) UpdatePeer(peer *node) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-// DeletePeer deletes a peer if it exists
-func (n *node) DeletePeer(id string) {
+// DeletePeer deletes a peer from node peers
+// It returns true if the peers has been deleted
+func (n *node) DeletePeer(id string) bool {
 	n.Lock()
 	defer n.Unlock()
 
 	delete(n.peers, id)
+
+	return true
 }
 
 // HasPeer returns true if node has peer with given id
@@ -106,6 +109,7 @@ func (n *node) RefreshPeer(id string, now time.Time) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+// walk walks the node graph until some condition is met
 func (n *node) walk(until func(peer *node) bool) map[string]*node {
 	// track the visited nodes
 	visited := make(map[string]*node)
@@ -139,7 +143,7 @@ func (n *node) walk(until func(peer *node) bool) map[string]*node {
 	return visited
 }
 
-// Nodes returns a slice if all nodes in node topology
+// Nodes returns a slice of all nodes in the whole node topology
 func (n *node) Nodes() []Node {
 	// we need to freeze the network graph here
 	// otherwise we might get inconsisten results
@@ -162,8 +166,8 @@ func (n *node) Nodes() []Node {
 	return nodes
 }
 
-// GetPeerNode returns a peer from node topology i.e. up to MaxDepth
-// It returns nil if the peer was not found in the node topology
+// GetPeerNode returns a node from node MaxDepth topology
+// It returns nil if the peer was not found
 func (n *node) GetPeerNode(id string) *node {
 	n.RLock()
 	defer n.RUnlock()
@@ -185,7 +189,8 @@ func (n *node) GetPeerNode(id string) *node {
 	return peerNode
 }
 
-// Topology returns a copy of th node topology down to given depth
+// Topology returns a copy of the node topology down to given depth
+// NOTE: the returned node is a node graph - not a single node
 func (n *node) Topology(depth uint) *node {
 	n.RLock()
 	defer n.RUnlock()