diff --git a/cpp/cdc/CDCDB.cpp b/cpp/cdc/CDCDB.cpp
index 3e495132..598b388b 100644
--- a/cpp/cdc/CDCDB.cpp
+++ b/cpp/cdc/CDCDB.cpp
@@ -1730,7 +1730,7 @@ struct CDCDBImpl {
             {
                 // Additional safety check: the key is what we expect.
                 auto foundKey = ExternalValue<DirsToTxnsKey>::FromSlice(it->key());
-                ALWAYS_ASSERT(!foundKey().isSentinel() && foundKey().txnId() == txnId);
+                ALWAYS_ASSERT(foundKey().dirId() == dirId && !foundKey().isSentinel() && foundKey().txnId() == txnId);
             }
             // now that we've done our checks, we can remove the key
             ROCKS_DB_CHECKED(dbTxn.Delete(_dirsToTxnsCf, k.toSlice()));
@@ -1743,23 +1743,13 @@ struct CDCDBImpl {
             bool removeSentinel = true;
             if (it->Valid()) { // there's something, set the sentinel
                 auto nextK = ExternalValue<DirsToTxnsKey>::FromSlice(it->key());
-                // This should never happen, since we specify the upper bound.
-                // However the RocksDB that we use is buggy, see
-                // <https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/commit/543191f2eacadf14e3aa6ff9a08f85a8ad82da95>.
-                // To be removed on upgrade.
-                if (nextK().dirId() == dirId) {
-                    removeSentinel = false;
-                    auto sentinelV = CDCTxnIdValue::Static(nextK().txnId());
-                    LOG_DEBUG(_env, "selected %s as next in line after finishing %s", nextK().txnId(), txnId);
-                    mightBeReady.emplace_back(nextK().txnId());
-                    ROCKS_DB_CHECKED(dbTxn.Put(_dirsToTxnsCf, sentinelK.toSlice(), sentinelV.toSlice()));
-                } else {
-                    RAISE_ALERT_APP_TYPE(_env, XmonAppType::DAYTIME, "Unexpectedly stepped from %s to %s, is RocksDB not respecting our upper bound?", dirId, nextK().dirId());
-                }
-            } else {
+                ALWAYS_ASSERT(nextK().dirId() == dirId); // must be true given the upper bound
+                auto sentinelV = CDCTxnIdValue::Static(nextK().txnId());
+                LOG_DEBUG(_env, "selected %s as next in line after finishing %s", nextK().txnId(), txnId);
+                mightBeReady.emplace_back(nextK().txnId());
+                ROCKS_DB_CHECKED(dbTxn.Put(_dirsToTxnsCf, sentinelK.toSlice(), sentinelV.toSlice()));
+            } else { // we were the last ones here, remove sentinel
                 ROCKS_DB_CHECKED(it->status());
-            }
-            if (removeSentinel) { // we were the last ones here, remove sentinel
                 ROCKS_DB_CHECKED(dbTxn.Delete(_dirsToTxnsCf, sentinelK.toSlice()));
             }
         }
diff --git a/cpp/tests/tests.cpp b/cpp/tests/tests.cpp
index 44b2863d..9395e3b6 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/tests.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/tests.cpp
@@ -413,6 +413,9 @@ struct TempShardDB {
     }
 
     ~TempShardDB() {
+        db.reset();
+        blockServicesCacheDB.reset();
+        sharedDB.reset();
         std::error_code err;
         if (std::filesystem::remove_all(std::filesystem::path(dbDir), err) < 0) {
             std::cerr << "Could not remove " << dbDir << ": " << err << std::endl;
diff --git a/cpp/tests/utils/TempBlockServicesCacheDB.hpp b/cpp/tests/utils/TempBlockServicesCacheDB.hpp
index 801ea2d4..760676f0 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/utils/TempBlockServicesCacheDB.hpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/utils/TempBlockServicesCacheDB.hpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ struct TempBlockServicesCacheDB {
     }
 
     ~TempBlockServicesCacheDB() {
+        sharedDB.reset();
         std::error_code err;
         std::filesystem::remove_all(std::filesystem::path(dbDir), err);
     }
diff --git a/cpp/tests/utils/TempLogsDB.hpp b/cpp/tests/utils/TempLogsDB.hpp
index 2151e575..8c596159 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/utils/TempLogsDB.hpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/utils/TempLogsDB.hpp
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ struct TempLogsDB {
     }
 
     ~TempLogsDB() {
+        db.reset();
+        sharedDB.reset();
+
         std::error_code err;
         if (std::filesystem::remove_all(std::filesystem::path(dbDir), err) < 0) {
             std::cerr << "Could not remove " << dbDir << ": " << err << std::endl;
diff --git a/cpp/tests/utils/TempRegistryDB.hpp b/cpp/tests/utils/TempRegistryDB.hpp
index ed69afd7..15efde57 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/utils/TempRegistryDB.hpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/utils/TempRegistryDB.hpp
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ struct TempRegistryDB {
     }
 
     ~TempRegistryDB() {
+        db.reset();
+        sharedDB.reset();
         std::error_code err;
         if (std::filesystem::remove_all(std::filesystem::path(dbDir), err) < 0) {
             std::cerr << "Could not remove " << dbDir << ": " << err << std::endl;
diff --git a/cpp/thirdparty.cmake b/cpp/thirdparty.cmake
index f5a7562d..468c28f6 100644
--- a/cpp/thirdparty.cmake
+++ b/cpp/thirdparty.cmake
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ separate_arguments(
 )
 ExternalProject_Add(make_rocksdb
     DOWNLOAD_DIR ${THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
-    URL https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/refs/tags/v7.9.2.tar.gz
-    URL_HASH SHA256=886378093098a1b2521b824782db7f7dd86224c232cf9652fcaf88222420b292
+    URL https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/refs/tags/v10.10.1.tar.gz
+    URL_HASH SHA256=df2ff348f3fac8578fd4b727eee7267aaf90cd403c99b55e898d1db63fa8cff5
     DOWNLOAD_NAME rocksdb.tar.gz
     PREFIX thirdparty/rocksdb
     UPDATE_COMMAND ""