diff --git a/src/pacman/db.c b/src/pacman/db.c
index e16bd901..42b93d05 100644
--- a/src/pacman/db.c
+++ b/src/pacman/db.c
@@ -34,6 +34,73 @@
 #include "sync.h"
 #include "db.h"
 
+/* reads dbpath/.lastupdate and populates *ts with the contents.
+ * *ts should be malloc'ed and should be at least 15 bytes.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success, 1 on error
+ *
+ */
+int db_getlastupdate(PM_DB *db, char *ts)
+{
+	FILE *fp;
+	char *root, *dbpath, *treename;
+	char file[PATH_MAX];
+
+	if(db == NULL || ts == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	alpm_get_option(PM_OPT_ROOT, (long *)&root);
+	alpm_get_option(PM_OPT_DBPATH, (long *)&dbpath);
+	treename = alpm_db_getinfo(db, PM_DB_TREENAME);
+	snprintf(file, PATH_MAX, "%s%s/%s/.lastupdate", root, dbpath, treename);
+
+	/* get the last update time, if it's there */
+	if((fp = fopen(file, "r")) == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	} else {
+		char line[256];
+		if(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp)) {
+			STRNCPY(ts, line, 15); /* YYYYMMDDHHMMSS */
+			ts[14] = '\0';
+		} else {
+			fclose(fp);
+			return(-1);
+		}
+	}
+	fclose(fp);
+	return(0);
+}
+
+/* writes the dbpath/.lastupdate with the contents of *ts
+ */
+int db_setlastupdate(PM_DB *db, char *ts)
+{
+	FILE *fp;
+	char *root, *dbpath, *treename;
+	char file[PATH_MAX];
+
+	if(db == NULL || ts == NULL || strlen(ts) == 0) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	alpm_get_option(PM_OPT_ROOT, (long *)&root);
+	alpm_get_option(PM_OPT_DBPATH, (long *)&dbpath);
+	treename = alpm_db_getinfo(db, PM_DB_TREENAME);
+	snprintf(file, PATH_MAX, "%s%s/%s/.lastupdate", root, dbpath, treename);
+
+	if((fp = fopen(file, "w")) == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+	if(fputs(ts, fp) <= 0) {
+		fclose(fp);
+		return(-1);
+	}
+	fclose(fp);
+
+	return(0);
+}
+
 int db_search(PM_DB *db, const char *treename, list_t *needles)
 {
 	list_t *i;
diff --git a/src/pacman/db.h b/src/pacman/db.h
index 549fe03c..07713408 100644
--- a/src/pacman/db.h
+++ b/src/pacman/db.h
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 #ifndef _PM_DB_H
 #define _PM_DB_H
 
+int db_getlastupdate(PM_DB *db, char *ts);
+int db_setlastupdate(PM_DB *db, char *ts);
+
 int db_search(PM_DB *db, const char *treename, list_t *needles);
 
 #endif /* _PM_DB_H */
diff --git a/src/pacman/sync.c b/src/pacman/sync.c
index 495a2274..f927a471 100644
--- a/src/pacman/sync.c
+++ b/src/pacman/sync.c
@@ -161,12 +161,12 @@ static int sync_synctree(int level, list_t *syncs)
 	for(i = syncs; i; i = i->next) {
 		list_t *files = NULL;
 		char newmtime[16] = "";
-		char *lastupdate = NULL;
+		char lastupdate[16] = "";
 		sync_t *sync = (sync_t *)i->data;
 
 		if(level < 2) {
 			/* get the lastupdate time */
-			lastupdate = alpm_db_getinfo(sync->db, PM_DB_LASTUPDATE);
+			db_getlastupdate(sync->db, lastupdate);
 			if(strlen(lastupdate) == 0) {
 				vprint("failed to get lastupdate time for %s (no big deal)\n", sync->treename);
 			}
@@ -188,15 +188,11 @@ static int sync_synctree(int level, list_t *syncs)
 		} else {
 			if(strlen(newmtime)) {
 				vprint("sync: new mtime for %s: %s\n", sync->treename, newmtime);
+				db_setlastupdate(sync->db, newmtime);
 			}
 			snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s%s/%s" PM_EXT_DB, root, dbpath, sync->treename);
-			if(alpm_db_update(sync->db, path, newmtime) == -1) {
-				if(pm_errno != PM_ERR_DB_UPTODATE) {
-					ERR(NL, "failed to update %s (%s)\n", sync->treename, alpm_strerror(pm_errno));
-					success--;
-				} else if(!strlen(newmtime)){
-					MSG(NL, ":: %s is up to date\n", sync->treename);
-				}
+			if(alpm_db_update(sync->db, path) == -1) {
+				ERR(NL, "failed to update %s (%s)\n", sync->treename, alpm_strerror(pm_errno));
 			}
 			/* remove the .tar.gz */
 			unlink(path);