diff --git a/src/calibre/db/backend.py b/src/calibre/db/backend.py
index 61ced67000..ab2c5c030f 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/backend.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/backend.py
@@ -1777,7 +1777,7 @@ class DB(object):
 
     def search_annotations(self,
         fts_engine_query, use_stemming, highlight_start, highlight_end, snippet_size, annotation_type,
-        restrict_to_book_ids, restrict_to_user
+        restrict_to_book_ids, restrict_to_user, ignore_removed=False
     ):
         fts_table = 'annotations_fts_stemmed' if use_stemming else 'annotations_fts'
         text = 'annotations.searchable_text'
@@ -1807,6 +1807,8 @@ class DB(object):
                     parsed_annot = ls(annot_data)
                 except Exception:
                     continue
+                if ignore_removed and parsed_annot.get('removed'):
+                    continue
                 yield {
                     'id': rowid,
                     'book_id': book_id,
@@ -1819,15 +1821,18 @@ class DB(object):
         except apsw.SQLError as e:
             raise FTSQueryError(fts_engine_query, query, e)
 
-    def all_annotations_for_book(self, book_id):
-        for (fmt, user_type, user, data) in self.execute('SELECT id, book, format, user_type, user, annot_data FROM annotations WHERE book=?', (book_id,)):
-
+    def all_annotations_for_book(self, book_id, ignore_removed=False):
+        for (fmt, user_type, user, data) in self.execute(
+            'SELECT id, book, format, user_type, user, annot_data FROM annotations WHERE book=?', (book_id,)
+        ):
             try:
-                yield {'format': fmt, 'user_type': user_type, 'user': user, 'annotation': json.loads(data)}
+                annot = json.loads(data)
             except Exception:
                 pass
+            if not ignore_removed or not annot.get('removed'):
+                yield {'format': fmt, 'user_type': user_type, 'user': user, 'annotation': annot}
 
-    def all_annotations(self, restrict_to_user=None, limit=None, annotation_type=None):
+    def all_annotations(self, restrict_to_user=None, limit=None, annotation_type=None, ignore_removed=False):
         ls = json.loads
         q = 'SELECT id, book, format, user_type, user, annot_data FROM annotations'
         data = []
@@ -1840,14 +1845,15 @@ class DB(object):
             data.append(annotation_type)
             q += ' annot_type = ? '
         q += ' ORDER BY timestamp'
-        if limit is not None:
-            q += ' LIMIT %d' % limit
+        count = 0
         for (rowid, book_id, fmt, user_type, user, annot_data) in self.execute(q, tuple(data)):
             try:
                 annot = ls(annot_data)
                 atype = annot['type']
             except Exception:
                 continue
+            if ignore_removed and annot.get('removed'):
+                continue
             text = ''
             if atype == 'bookmark':
                 text = annot['title']
@@ -1862,6 +1868,9 @@ class DB(object):
                 'text': text,
                 'annotation': annot,
             }
+            count += 1
+            if limit is not None and count >= limit:
+                break
 
     def all_annotation_users(self):
         return self.execute('SELECT DISTINCT user_type, user FROM annotations')
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/cache.py b/src/calibre/db/cache.py
index b58e936aee..4fd5be0033 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/cache.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/cache.py
@@ -2311,8 +2311,8 @@ class Cache(object):
         return tuple(self.backend.all_annotation_types())
 
     @read_api
-    def all_annotations(self, restrict_to_user=None, limit=None, annotation_type=None):
-        return tuple(self.backend.all_annotations(restrict_to_user, limit, annotation_type))
+    def all_annotations(self, restrict_to_user=None, limit=None, annotation_type=None, ignore_removed=False):
+        return tuple(self.backend.all_annotations(restrict_to_user, limit, annotation_type, ignore_removed))
 
     @read_api
     def search_annotations(
@@ -2325,10 +2325,12 @@ class Cache(object):
         annotation_type=None,
         restrict_to_book_ids=None,
         restrict_to_user=None,
+        ignore_removed=False
     ):
         return tuple(self.backend.search_annotations(
             fts_engine_query, use_stemming, highlight_start, highlight_end,
-            snippet_size, annotation_type, restrict_to_book_ids, restrict_to_user
+            snippet_size, annotation_type, restrict_to_book_ids, restrict_to_user,
+            ignore_removed
         ))
 
     @write_api
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/library/annotations.py b/src/calibre/gui2/library/annotations.py
index 27e0e7f992..886af6813d 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/library/annotations.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/library/annotations.py
@@ -297,9 +297,15 @@ class BrowsePanel(QWidget):
         with BusyCursor():
             db = current_db()
             if not q['fts_engine_query']:
-                results = db.all_annotations(restrict_to_user=q['restrict_to_user'], limit=4096, annotation_type=q['annotation_type'])
+                results = db.all_annotations(
+                    restrict_to_user=q['restrict_to_user'], limit=4096, annotation_type=q['annotation_type'],
+                    ignore_removed=True
+                )
             else:
-                results = db.search_annotations(highlight_start='\x1d', highlight_end='\x1d', snippet_size=64, **q)
+                results = db.search_annotations(
+                    highlight_start='\x1d', highlight_end='\x1d', snippet_size=64,
+                    ignore_removed=True, **q
+                )
 
             self.results_list.set_results(results, bool(q['fts_engine_query']))
             self.current_query = q