diff --git a/src/gen/gen-rivers.cpp b/src/gen/gen-rivers.cpp
index c769ab57c..160a98330 100644
--- a/src/gen/gen-rivers.cpp
+++ b/src/gen/gen-rivers.cpp
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ gen_rivers_t::gen_rivers_t(pg_conn_t *connection, bool append, params_t *params)
   m_timer_prep(add_timer("prep")), m_timer_get(add_timer("get")),
   m_timer_sort(add_timer("sort")), m_timer_net(add_timer("net")),
   m_timer_remove(add_timer("remove")), m_timer_width(add_timer("width")),
-  m_timer_write(add_timer("write")),
-  m_delete_existing(params->has("delete_existing"))
+  m_timer_write(add_timer("write"))
 {
     check_src_dest_table_params_exist();
 
@@ -327,7 +326,7 @@ SELECT "{id_column}", "{width_column}", "{name_column}", "{geom_column}"
     }
     timer(m_timer_width).stop();
 
-    if (m_delete_existing) {
+    if (append_mode()) {
         dbexec("TRUNCATE {dest}");
     }
 
diff --git a/src/gen/gen-rivers.hpp b/src/gen/gen-rivers.hpp
index f1f4040f9..3cd351ce5 100644
--- a/src/gen/gen-rivers.hpp
+++ b/src/gen/gen-rivers.hpp
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ class gen_rivers_t : public gen_base_t
 
     std::size_t m_num_waterways = 0;
     std::size_t m_num_points = 0;
-    bool m_delete_existing;
 };
 
 #endif // OSM2PGSQL_GEN_RIVERS_HPP
diff --git a/src/gen/gen-tile.cpp b/src/gen/gen-tile.cpp
index 13bc95022..eb9dc22bc 100644
--- a/src/gen/gen-tile.cpp
+++ b/src/gen/gen-tile.cpp
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ gen_tile_t::gen_tile_t(pg_conn_t *connection, bool append, params_t *params)
 {
     m_with_group_by = !get_params().get_identifier("group_by_column").empty();
 
-    if (get_params().get_bool("delete_existing")) {
-        m_delete_existing = true;
+    if (append_mode()) {
         dbexec("PREPARE del_geoms (int, int) AS"
                " DELETE FROM {dest} WHERE x=$1 AND y=$2");
     }
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ uint32_t gen_tile_t::parse_zoom()
 
 void gen_tile_t::delete_existing(tile_t const &tile)
 {
-    if (!m_delete_existing) {
+    if (!append_mode()) {
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/gen/gen-tile.hpp b/src/gen/gen-tile.hpp
index ded09462b..cac3cfea7 100644
--- a/src/gen/gen-tile.hpp
+++ b/src/gen/gen-tile.hpp
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ class gen_tile_t : public gen_base_t
 private:
     std::size_t m_timer_delete;
     uint32_t m_zoom;
-    bool m_delete_existing = false;
     bool m_with_group_by = false;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/gen/osm2pgsql-gen.cpp b/src/gen/osm2pgsql-gen.cpp
index 0ff658485..581c57083 100644
--- a/src/gen/osm2pgsql-gen.cpp
+++ b/src/gen/osm2pgsql-gen.cpp
@@ -280,10 +280,6 @@ class genproc_t
             params.set("schema", m_dbschema);
         }
 
-        if (m_append) {
-            params.set("delete_existing", true);
-        }
-
         write_to_debug_log(params, "Params (config):");
 
         log_debug("Connecting to database...");