diff --git a/docs/rest-api.yml b/docs/rest-api.yml
index eb7f4274..1eff3a53 100644
--- a/docs/rest-api.yml
+++ b/docs/rest-api.yml
@@ -217,6 +217,13 @@ paths:
           in: path
           required: true
           type: string
+        - name: remove
+          description: |
+            Whether to fully remove the server, rather than just stop it.
+            Removing a server deletes things like the state of the stopped server.
+          in: body
+          required: false
+          type: boolean
       responses:
         '201':
           description: The user's notebook named-server has started
diff --git a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py
index 54158fd9..b12320c1 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py
@@ -378,29 +378,52 @@ class UserServerAPIHandler(APIHandler):
     @admin_or_self
     async def delete(self, name, server_name=''):
         user = self.find_user(name)
+        options = self.get_json_body()
+        remove = (options or {}).get('remove', False)
+
+
+        def _remove_spawner(f=None):
+            if f and f.exception():
+                return
+            self.log.info("Deleting spawner %s", spawner._log_name)
+            self.db.delete(spawner.orm_spawner)
+            self.db.commit()
+
         if server_name:
             if not self.allow_named_servers:
                 raise web.HTTPError(400, "Named servers are not enabled.")
-            if server_name not in user.spawners:
+            if server_name not in user.orm_spawners:
                 raise web.HTTPError(404, "%s has no server named '%s'" % (name, server_name))
+        elif remove:
+            raise web.HTTPError(400, "Cannot delete the default server")
 
         spawner = user.spawners[server_name]
         if spawner.pending == 'stop':
             self.log.debug("%s already stopping", spawner._log_name)
             self.set_header('Content-Type', 'text/plain')
             self.set_status(202)
+            if remove:
+                spawner._stop_future.add_done_callback(_remove_spawner)
             return
 
-        if not spawner.ready:
+        if spawner.pending:
             raise web.HTTPError(
-                400, "%s is not running %s" %
-                (spawner._log_name, '(pending: %s)' % spawner.pending if spawner.pending else '')
+                400, "%s is pending %s, please wait" % (spawner._log_name, spawner.pending)
             )
-        # include notify, so that a server that died is noticed immediately
-        status = await spawner.poll_and_notify()
-        if status is not None:
-            raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s is not running" % spawner._log_name)
-        await self.stop_single_user(user, server_name)
+
+        stop_future = None
+        if spawner.ready:
+            # include notify, so that a server that died is noticed immediately
+            status = await spawner.poll_and_notify()
+            if status is None:
+                stop_future = await self.stop_single_user(user, server_name)
+
+        if remove:
+            if stop_future:
+                stop_future.add_done_callback(_remove_spawner)
+            else:
+                _remove_spawner()
+
         status = 202 if spawner._stop_pending else 204
         self.set_header('Content-Type', 'text/plain')
         self.set_status(status)
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py
index 019e7bf2..7f1994b7 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_api.py
@@ -677,7 +677,8 @@ def test_slow_spawn(app, no_patience, slow_spawn):
     assert not app_user.spawner._stop_pending
     assert app_user.spawner is not None
     r = yield api_request(app, 'users', name, 'server', method='delete')
-    assert r.status_code == 400
+    # 204 deleted if there's no such server
+    assert r.status_code == 204
     assert app.users.count_active_users()['pending'] == 0
     assert app.users.count_active_users()['active'] == 0
 
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py
index 04ae83df..8f808d33 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 """Tests for named servers"""
+import json
 from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
@@ -134,6 +135,21 @@ def test_delete_named_server(app, named_servers):
         'auth_state': None,
         'servers': {},
     })
+    # wrapper Spawner is gone
+    assert servername not in user.spawners
+    # low-level record still exists
+    assert servername in user.orm_spawners
+
+    r = yield api_request(
+        app, 'users', username, 'servers', servername,
+        method='delete',
+        data=json.dumps({'remove': True}),
+    )
+    r.raise_for_status()
+    assert r.status_code == 204
+    # low-level record is now removes
+    assert servername not in user.orm_spawners
+
 
 @pytest.mark.gen_test
 def test_named_server_disabled(app):