diff --git a/ratelimitfile.php b/ratelimitfile.php
index 290d2c9..6469c29 100644
--- a/ratelimitfile.php
+++ b/ratelimitfile.php
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class ratelimitfile extends ratelimit
     file_put_contents ($file, $contents);
     $lock->unlockRW ();
     unset ($lock);
+    $this->clean ();
     if (count ($contents) > $this->maxEntries)
     {
       if ($this->debug) echo "Ratelimiting for '$name'\n";