Method and system for deferred maintenance of database indexes

Rectifying discrepancies between a table, from which a segment of data has been removed, and an index for the table may be deferred. Each entry in the index is sequentially analyzed to remove entries therefrom referring to any removed segment referenced in the starting location list. During this process, if a segment newly removed from the table is detected, then analysis of the index entries continues and an indicator is set that another segment has been removed. Analysis of the entries continues in a looping fashion until each entry has been assessed to determine if it makes a reference to any of the removed segments. If a query is received before rectification is complete then the query is amended by establishing search boundaries based so that the query does not produce any entries in the index referring to removed segments.