diff --git a/lib/libalpm/add.c b/lib/libalpm/add.c
index 2d4b7baa..702e4d63 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/add.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/add.c
@@ -470,9 +470,6 @@ static int commit_single_pkg(alpm_handle_t *handle, alpm_pkg_t *newpkg,
 
 		/* we'll need to save some record for backup checks later */
 		oldpkg = _alpm_pkg_dup(local);
-		/* make sure all infos are loaded because the database entry
-		 * will be removed soon */
-		_alpm_local_db_read(oldpkg->origin_data.db, oldpkg, INFRQ_ALL);
 
 		EVENT(trans, PM_TRANS_EVT_UPGRADE_START, newpkg, oldpkg);
 		_alpm_log(handle, PM_LOG_DEBUG, "upgrading package %s-%s\n",
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_local.c b/lib/libalpm/be_local.c
index 2ee71cc0..c10c9e3c 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/be_local.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_local.c
@@ -41,10 +41,12 @@
 #include "package.h"
 #include "deps.h"
 
+static int local_db_read(alpm_pkg_t *info, alpm_dbinfrq_t inforeq);
+
 #define LAZY_LOAD(info, errret) \
 	do { \
-		if(pkg->origin != PKG_FROM_FILE && !(pkg->infolevel & info)) { \
-			_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, info); \
+		if(!(pkg->infolevel & info)) { \
+			local_db_read(pkg, info); \
 		} \
 	} while(0)
 
@@ -135,9 +137,7 @@ static alpm_list_t *_cache_get_groups(alpm_pkg_t *pkg)
 
 static int _cache_has_scriptlet(alpm_pkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	if(!(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_SCRIPTLET)) {
-		_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_SCRIPTLET);
-	}
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_SCRIPTLET, NULL);
 	return pkg->scriptlet;
 }
 
@@ -179,19 +179,13 @@ static alpm_list_t *_cache_get_deltas(alpm_pkg_t UNUSED *pkg)
 
 static alpm_list_t *_cache_get_files(alpm_pkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_LOCALDB
-		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_FILES)) {
-		_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_FILES);
-	}
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_FILES, NULL);
 	return pkg->files;
 }
 
 static alpm_list_t *_cache_get_backup(alpm_pkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_LOCALDB
-		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_FILES)) {
-		_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_FILES);
-	}
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_FILES, NULL);
 	return pkg->backup;
 }
 
@@ -239,6 +233,11 @@ static int _cache_changelog_close(const alpm_pkg_t UNUSED *pkg, void *fp)
 	return fclose((FILE *)fp);
 }
 
+static int _cache_force_load(alpm_pkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	return local_db_read(pkg, INFRQ_ALL);
+}
+
 
 /** The local database operations struct. Get package fields through
  * lazy accessor methods that handle any backend loading and caching
@@ -271,6 +270,8 @@ static struct pkg_operations local_pkg_ops = {
 	.changelog_open  = _cache_changelog_open,
 	.changelog_read  = _cache_changelog_read,
 	.changelog_close = _cache_changelog_close,
+
+	.force_load      = _cache_force_load,
 };
 
 static int checkdbdir(alpm_db_t *db)
@@ -460,7 +461,7 @@ static int local_db_populate(alpm_db_t *db)
 		pkg->handle = db->handle;
 
 		/* explicitly read with only 'BASE' data, accessors will handle the rest */
-		if(_alpm_local_db_read(db, pkg, INFRQ_BASE) == -1) {
+		if(local_db_read(pkg, INFRQ_BASE) == -1) {
 			_alpm_log(db->handle, PM_LOG_ERROR, _("corrupted database entry '%s'\n"), name);
 			_alpm_pkg_free(pkg);
 			continue;
@@ -498,25 +499,13 @@ static char *get_pkgpath(alpm_db_t *db, alpm_pkg_t *info)
 }
 
 
-int _alpm_local_db_read(alpm_db_t *db, alpm_pkg_t *info, alpm_dbinfrq_t inforeq)
+static int local_db_read(alpm_pkg_t *info, alpm_dbinfrq_t inforeq)
 {
 	FILE *fp = NULL;
 	char path[PATH_MAX];
 	char line[1024];
 	char *pkgpath = NULL;
-
-	if(info == NULL || info->name == NULL || info->version == NULL) {
-		_alpm_log(db->handle, PM_LOG_DEBUG,
-				"invalid package entry provided to _alpm_local_db_read, skipping\n");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	if(info->origin != PKG_FROM_LOCALDB) {
-		_alpm_log(db->handle, PM_LOG_DEBUG,
-				"request to read info for a non-local package '%s', skipping...\n",
-				info->name);
-		return -1;
-	}
+	alpm_db_t *db = info->origin_data.db;
 
 	/* bitmask logic here:
 	 * infolevel: 00001111
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/db.h b/lib/libalpm/db.h
index 7055abd8..7dce006f 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/db.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/db.h
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ alpm_db_t *_alpm_db_register_sync(alpm_handle_t *handle, const char *treename,
 void _alpm_db_unregister(alpm_db_t *db);
 
 /* be_*.c, backend specific calls */
-int _alpm_local_db_read(alpm_db_t *db, alpm_pkg_t *info, alpm_dbinfrq_t inforeq);
 int _alpm_local_db_prepare(alpm_db_t *db, alpm_pkg_t *info);
 int _alpm_local_db_write(alpm_db_t *db, alpm_pkg_t *info, alpm_dbinfrq_t inforeq);
 int _alpm_local_db_remove(alpm_db_t *db, alpm_pkg_t *info);
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/package.c b/lib/libalpm/package.c
index 31f07325..21984b37 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/package.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/package.c
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ static int _pkg_changelog_close(const alpm_pkg_t UNUSED *pkg,
 	return EOF;
 }
 
+static int _pkg_force_load(alpm_pkg_t UNUSED *pkg) { return 0; }
+
 /** The standard package operations struct. Get fields directly from the
  * struct itself with no abstraction layer or any type of lazy loading.
  */
@@ -157,6 +159,8 @@ struct pkg_operations default_pkg_ops = {
 	.changelog_open  = _pkg_changelog_open,
 	.changelog_read  = _pkg_changelog_read,
 	.changelog_close = _pkg_changelog_close,
+
+	.force_load      = _pkg_force_load,
 };
 
 /* Public functions for getting package information. These functions
@@ -437,6 +441,10 @@ alpm_pkg_t *_alpm_pkg_dup(alpm_pkg_t *pkg)
 	alpm_pkg_t *newpkg;
 	alpm_list_t *i;
 
+	if(pkg->ops->force_load(pkg)) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	CALLOC(newpkg, 1, sizeof(alpm_pkg_t), goto cleanup);
 
 	newpkg->name_hash = pkg->name_hash;
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/package.h b/lib/libalpm/package.h
index 388a53c8..772c2f62 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/package.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/package.h
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ struct pkg_operations {
 	size_t (*changelog_read) (void *, size_t, const alpm_pkg_t *, const void *);
 	int (*changelog_close) (const alpm_pkg_t *, void *);
 
+	int (*force_load) (alpm_pkg_t *);
+
 	/* still to add:
 	 * checkmd5sum() ?
 	 * compute_requiredby()