diff --git a/api/next.pb.txt b/api/next.pb.txt
index 7f94541fc..55536f2a5 100755
--- a/api/next.pb.txt
+++ b/api/next.pb.txt
@@ -2546,6 +2546,13 @@ file {
       type: TYPE_STRING
       json_name: "id"
     }
+    field {
+      name: "sync"
+      number: 2
+      label: LABEL_OPTIONAL
+      type: TYPE_BOOL
+      json_name: "sync"
+    }
   }
   message_type {
     name: "ListRequest"
diff --git a/api/services/leases/v1/leases.pb.go b/api/services/leases/v1/leases.pb.go
index 3472b1ff9..1222c1aec 100644
--- a/api/services/leases/v1/leases.pb.go
+++ b/api/services/leases/v1/leases.pb.go
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@ func (*CreateResponse) Descriptor() ([]byte, []int) { return fileDescriptorLease
 
 type DeleteRequest struct {
 	ID string `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=id,proto3" json:"id,omitempty"`
+	// Sync indicates that the delete and cleanup should be done
+	// synchronously before returning to the caller
+	//
+	// Default is false
+	Sync bool `protobuf:"varint,2,opt,name=sync,proto3" json:"sync,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func (m *DeleteRequest) Reset()                    { *m = DeleteRequest{} }
@@ -404,6 +409,16 @@ func (m *DeleteRequest) MarshalTo(dAtA []byte) (int, error) {
 		i = encodeVarintLeases(dAtA, i, uint64(len(m.ID)))
 		i += copy(dAtA[i:], m.ID)
 	}
+	if m.Sync {
+		dAtA[i] = 0x10
+		i++
+		if m.Sync {
+			dAtA[i] = 1
+		} else {
+			dAtA[i] = 0
+		}
+		i++
+	}
 	return i, nil
 }
 
@@ -534,6 +549,9 @@ func (m *DeleteRequest) Size() (n int) {
 	if l > 0 {
 		n += 1 + l + sovLeases(uint64(l))
 	}
+	if m.Sync {
+		n += 2
+	}
 	return n
 }
 
@@ -633,6 +651,7 @@ func (this *DeleteRequest) String() string {
 	}
 	s := strings.Join([]string{`&DeleteRequest{`,
 		`ID:` + fmt.Sprintf("%v", this.ID) + `,`,
+		`Sync:` + fmt.Sprintf("%v", this.Sync) + `,`,
 		`}`,
 	}, "")
 	return s
@@ -1230,6 +1249,26 @@ func (m *DeleteRequest) Unmarshal(dAtA []byte) error {
 			}
 			m.ID = string(dAtA[iNdEx:postIndex])
 			iNdEx = postIndex
+		case 2:
+			if wireType != 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("proto: wrong wireType = %d for field Sync", wireType)
+			}
+			var v int
+			for shift := uint(0); ; shift += 7 {
+				if shift >= 64 {
+					return ErrIntOverflowLeases
+				}
+				if iNdEx >= l {
+					return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
+				}
+				b := dAtA[iNdEx]
+				iNdEx++
+				v |= (int(b) & 0x7F) << shift
+				if b < 0x80 {
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			m.Sync = bool(v != 0)
 		default:
 			iNdEx = preIndex
 			skippy, err := skipLeases(dAtA[iNdEx:])
@@ -1521,37 +1560,38 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 var fileDescriptorLeases = []byte{
-	// 504 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
+	// 515 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
 	0x1f, 0x8b, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0xff, 0xac, 0x94, 0xdf, 0x8a, 0xd3, 0x40,
-	0x14, 0xc6, 0x3b, 0xa9, 0x8d, 0xf6, 0xc4, 0x15, 0x19, 0x96, 0x25, 0x44, 0x4c, 0x4b, 0x10, 0xb6,
-	0xf8, 0x67, 0xe2, 0xd6, 0x9b, 0x75, 0x15, 0xc1, 0x6e, 0x17, 0x14, 0x82, 0x48, 0xf0, 0x62, 0xf1,
-	0x66, 0x49, 0xdb, 0xb3, 0x31, 0x98, 0x36, 0x31, 0x33, 0x2d, 0xf4, 0xce, 0x47, 0xf0, 0x11, 0x7c,
-	0x08, 0x1f, 0xa2, 0x97, 0x5e, 0x7a, 0xb5, 0xba, 0xb9, 0xf3, 0x2d, 0x24, 0x33, 0x09, 0xbb, 0x5b,
-	0xd1, 0x56, 0xd9, 0xbb, 0x33, 0x99, 0xef, 0x3b, 0xe7, 0x77, 0x3e, 0x98, 0x40, 0x3f, 0x8c, 0xc4,
-	0xbb, 0xe9, 0x80, 0x0d, 0x93, 0xb1, 0x3b, 0x4c, 0x26, 0x22, 0x88, 0x26, 0x98, 0x8d, 0xce, 0x97,
-	0x41, 0x1a, 0xb9, 0x1c, 0xb3, 0x59, 0x34, 0x44, 0xee, 0xc6, 0x18, 0x70, 0xe4, 0xee, 0x6c, 0xa7,
-	0xac, 0x58, 0x9a, 0x25, 0x22, 0xa1, 0xb7, 0xcf, 0xf4, 0xac, 0xd2, 0xb2, 0x52, 0x31, 0xdb, 0xb1,
-	0x36, 0xc3, 0x24, 0x4c, 0xa4, 0xd2, 0x2d, 0x2a, 0x65, 0xb2, 0x6e, 0x85, 0x49, 0x12, 0xc6, 0xe8,
-	0xca, 0xd3, 0x60, 0x7a, 0xec, 0xe2, 0x38, 0x15, 0xf3, 0xf2, 0xb2, 0xb5, 0x7c, 0x29, 0xa2, 0x31,
-	0x72, 0x11, 0x8c, 0x53, 0x25, 0x70, 0x7e, 0x12, 0x68, 0x78, 0xc5, 0x04, 0xba, 0x05, 0x5a, 0x34,
-	0x32, 0x49, 0x9b, 0x74, 0x9a, 0x3d, 0x3d, 0x3f, 0x69, 0x69, 0x2f, 0xfb, 0xbe, 0x16, 0x8d, 0xe8,
-	0x3e, 0xc0, 0x30, 0xc3, 0x40, 0xe0, 0xe8, 0x28, 0x10, 0xa6, 0xd6, 0x26, 0x1d, 0xa3, 0x6b, 0x31,
-	0xd5, 0x97, 0x55, 0x7d, 0xd9, 0x9b, 0xaa, 0x6f, 0xef, 0xda, 0xe2, 0xa4, 0x55, 0xfb, 0xf4, 0xbd,
-	0x45, 0xfc, 0x66, 0xe9, 0x7b, 0x2e, 0xe8, 0x0b, 0xd0, 0xe3, 0x60, 0x80, 0x31, 0x37, 0xeb, 0xed,
-	0x7a, 0xc7, 0xe8, 0x3e, 0x64, 0x7f, 0x5d, 0x95, 0x49, 0x24, 0xe6, 0x49, 0xcb, 0xc1, 0x44, 0x64,
-	0x73, 0xbf, 0xf4, 0x5b, 0x8f, 0xc1, 0x38, 0xf7, 0x99, 0xde, 0x84, 0xfa, 0x7b, 0x9c, 0x2b, 0x6c,
-	0xbf, 0x28, 0xe9, 0x26, 0x34, 0x66, 0x41, 0x3c, 0x45, 0x89, 0xda, 0xf4, 0xd5, 0x61, 0x4f, 0xdb,
-	0x25, 0xce, 0x17, 0x02, 0x1b, 0xfb, 0x12, 0xc9, 0xc7, 0x0f, 0x53, 0xe4, 0xe2, 0x8f, 0x3b, 0xbf,
-	0x5e, 0xc2, 0xdd, 0x5d, 0x81, 0x7b, 0xa1, 0xeb, 0x65, 0x63, 0x7b, 0x70, 0xa3, 0xea, 0xcf, 0xd3,
-	0x64, 0xc2, 0x91, 0xee, 0x41, 0x43, 0xce, 0x96, 0x7e, 0xa3, 0x7b, 0x67, 0x9d, 0x30, 0x7d, 0x65,
-	0x71, 0xb6, 0x61, 0xa3, 0x8f, 0x31, 0xae, 0xcc, 0xc0, 0xd9, 0x06, 0xc3, 0x8b, 0xb8, 0xa8, 0x64,
-	0x26, 0x5c, 0x3d, 0x8e, 0x62, 0x81, 0x19, 0x37, 0x49, 0xbb, 0xde, 0x69, 0xfa, 0xd5, 0xd1, 0xf1,
-	0xe0, 0xba, 0x12, 0x96, 0x74, 0x4f, 0x41, 0x57, 0xb3, 0xa5, 0x70, 0x5d, 0xbc, 0xd2, 0xd3, 0xfd,
-	0xac, 0x81, 0x2e, 0xbf, 0x70, 0x8a, 0xa0, 0xab, 0xc5, 0xe9, 0xfd, 0x7f, 0xc9, 0xdf, 0x7a, 0xb0,
-	0xa6, 0xba, 0xe4, 0x7d, 0x05, 0xba, 0x4a, 0x64, 0xe5, 0x98, 0x0b, 0xc1, 0x59, 0x5b, 0xbf, 0x3d,
-	0x82, 0x83, 0xe2, 0xe5, 0xd1, 0x23, 0xb8, 0x52, 0xe4, 0x41, 0xef, 0xae, 0xda, 0xfb, 0x2c, 0x5d,
-	0xeb, 0xde, 0x5a, 0x5a, 0x05, 0xdc, 0x3b, 0x5c, 0x9c, 0xda, 0xb5, 0x6f, 0xa7, 0x76, 0xed, 0x63,
-	0x6e, 0x93, 0x45, 0x6e, 0x93, 0xaf, 0xb9, 0x4d, 0x7e, 0xe4, 0x36, 0x79, 0xfb, 0xec, 0x3f, 0x7f,
-	0x43, 0x4f, 0x54, 0x75, 0x58, 0x1b, 0xe8, 0x72, 0x99, 0x47, 0xbf, 0x02, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff,
-	0xad, 0x77, 0xda, 0x73, 0xd1, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00,
+	0x14, 0xc6, 0x3b, 0xe9, 0x36, 0x6e, 0x4f, 0x5d, 0x91, 0x61, 0x59, 0x4a, 0xc4, 0xb4, 0x04, 0xc1,
+	0xe2, 0x9f, 0x89, 0x5b, 0x6f, 0xd6, 0x5d, 0x11, 0xec, 0x76, 0x41, 0x21, 0x88, 0x04, 0x2f, 0x16,
+	0x6f, 0x96, 0x34, 0x3d, 0x1b, 0x83, 0x69, 0x12, 0x33, 0xd3, 0x42, 0xef, 0x7c, 0x04, 0x1f, 0xc1,
+	0x87, 0xf0, 0x21, 0x7a, 0xe9, 0xa5, 0x57, 0xab, 0x9b, 0x3b, 0xdf, 0x42, 0x32, 0x93, 0xb0, 0x7f,
+	0x44, 0x5b, 0x65, 0xef, 0xce, 0xcc, 0x7c, 0xdf, 0x99, 0xdf, 0xf9, 0xc2, 0x04, 0x86, 0x41, 0x28,
+	0xde, 0x4d, 0x47, 0xcc, 0x4f, 0x26, 0xb6, 0x9f, 0xc4, 0xc2, 0x0b, 0x63, 0xcc, 0xc6, 0xe7, 0x4b,
+	0x2f, 0x0d, 0x6d, 0x8e, 0xd9, 0x2c, 0xf4, 0x91, 0xdb, 0x11, 0x7a, 0x1c, 0xb9, 0x3d, 0xdb, 0x2e,
+	0x2b, 0x96, 0x66, 0x89, 0x48, 0xe8, 0xed, 0x33, 0x3d, 0xab, 0xb4, 0xac, 0x54, 0xcc, 0xb6, 0x8d,
+	0xcd, 0x20, 0x09, 0x12, 0xa9, 0xb4, 0x8b, 0x4a, 0x99, 0x8c, 0x5b, 0x41, 0x92, 0x04, 0x11, 0xda,
+	0x72, 0x35, 0x9a, 0x1e, 0xdb, 0x38, 0x49, 0xc5, 0xbc, 0x3c, 0xec, 0x5c, 0x3e, 0x14, 0xe1, 0x04,
+	0xb9, 0xf0, 0x26, 0xa9, 0x12, 0x58, 0x3f, 0x09, 0x34, 0x9c, 0xe2, 0x06, 0xba, 0x05, 0x5a, 0x38,
+	0x6e, 0x93, 0x2e, 0xe9, 0x35, 0x07, 0x7a, 0x7e, 0xd2, 0xd1, 0x5e, 0x0e, 0x5d, 0x2d, 0x1c, 0xd3,
+	0x7d, 0x00, 0x3f, 0x43, 0x4f, 0xe0, 0xf8, 0xc8, 0x13, 0x6d, 0xad, 0x4b, 0x7a, 0xad, 0xbe, 0xc1,
+	0x54, 0x5f, 0x56, 0xf5, 0x65, 0x6f, 0xaa, 0xbe, 0x83, 0xf5, 0xc5, 0x49, 0xa7, 0xf6, 0xe9, 0x7b,
+	0x87, 0xb8, 0xcd, 0xd2, 0xf7, 0x5c, 0xd0, 0x17, 0xa0, 0x47, 0xde, 0x08, 0x23, 0xde, 0xae, 0x77,
+	0xeb, 0xbd, 0x56, 0xff, 0x11, 0xfb, 0xeb, 0xa8, 0x4c, 0x22, 0x31, 0x47, 0x5a, 0x0e, 0x62, 0x91,
+	0xcd, 0xdd, 0xd2, 0x6f, 0x3c, 0x81, 0xd6, 0xb9, 0x6d, 0x7a, 0x13, 0xea, 0xef, 0x71, 0xae, 0xb0,
+	0xdd, 0xa2, 0xa4, 0x9b, 0xd0, 0x98, 0x79, 0xd1, 0x14, 0x25, 0x6a, 0xd3, 0x55, 0x8b, 0x5d, 0x6d,
+	0x87, 0x58, 0x5f, 0x08, 0x6c, 0xec, 0x4b, 0x24, 0x17, 0x3f, 0x4c, 0x91, 0x8b, 0x3f, 0xce, 0xfc,
+	0xfa, 0x12, 0xee, 0xce, 0x12, 0xdc, 0x0b, 0x5d, 0xaf, 0x1a, 0xdb, 0x81, 0x1b, 0x55, 0x7f, 0x9e,
+	0x26, 0x31, 0x47, 0xba, 0x0b, 0x0d, 0x79, 0xb7, 0xf4, 0xb7, 0xfa, 0x77, 0x56, 0x09, 0xd3, 0x55,
+	0x16, 0x6b, 0x0f, 0x36, 0x86, 0x18, 0xe1, 0xf2, 0x0c, 0x28, 0xac, 0xf1, 0x79, 0xec, 0x4b, 0x9e,
+	0x75, 0x57, 0xd6, 0xd6, 0x5d, 0x68, 0x39, 0x21, 0x17, 0x95, 0xb5, 0x0d, 0xd7, 0x8e, 0xc3, 0x48,
+	0x60, 0xc6, 0xdb, 0xa4, 0x5b, 0xef, 0x35, 0xdd, 0x6a, 0x69, 0x39, 0x70, 0x5d, 0x09, 0x4b, 0xe2,
+	0xa7, 0xa0, 0x2b, 0x1e, 0x29, 0x5c, 0x15, 0xb9, 0xf4, 0xf4, 0x3f, 0x6b, 0xa0, 0xcb, 0x1d, 0x4e,
+	0x11, 0x74, 0x15, 0x06, 0x7d, 0xf0, 0x2f, 0xdf, 0xc4, 0x78, 0xb8, 0xa2, 0xba, 0xe4, 0x7d, 0x05,
+	0xba, 0x4a, 0x69, 0xe9, 0x35, 0x17, 0xc2, 0x34, 0xb6, 0x7e, 0x7b, 0x18, 0x07, 0xc5, 0x6b, 0xa4,
+	0x47, 0xb0, 0x56, 0xe4, 0x41, 0xef, 0x2d, 0x9b, 0xfb, 0x2c, 0x5d, 0xe3, 0xfe, 0x4a, 0x5a, 0x05,
+	0x3c, 0x38, 0x5c, 0x9c, 0x9a, 0xb5, 0x6f, 0xa7, 0x66, 0xed, 0x63, 0x6e, 0x92, 0x45, 0x6e, 0x92,
+	0xaf, 0xb9, 0x49, 0x7e, 0xe4, 0x26, 0x79, 0xfb, 0xec, 0x3f, 0x7f, 0x4d, 0x7b, 0xaa, 0x3a, 0xac,
+	0x8d, 0x74, 0x39, 0xcc, 0xe3, 0x5f, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0x14, 0x74, 0xdd, 0x12, 0xe5,
+	0x04, 0x00, 0x00,
 }
diff --git a/api/services/leases/v1/leases.proto b/api/services/leases/v1/leases.proto
index 1002a2d6e..2df4b0623 100644
--- a/api/services/leases/v1/leases.proto
+++ b/api/services/leases/v1/leases.proto
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ message CreateResponse {
 
 message DeleteRequest {
 	string id = 1;
+
+	// Sync indicates that the delete and cleanup should be done
+	// synchronously before returning to the caller
+	//
+	// Default is false
+	bool sync = 2;
 }
 
 message ListRequest {
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/commands/leases/leases.go b/cmd/ctr/commands/leases/leases.go
index a95776762..2e07b9f82 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/commands/leases/leases.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/commands/leases/leases.go
@@ -163,6 +163,12 @@ var deleteCommand = cli.Command{
 	Usage:       "delete a lease",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <lease id> ...",
 	Description: "delete a lease",
+	Flags: []cli.Flag{
+		cli.BoolFlag{
+			Name:  "sync",
+			Usage: "Synchronously remove leases and all unreferenced resources",
+		},
+	},
 	Action: func(context *cli.Context) error {
 		var lids = context.Args()
 		if len(lids) == 0 {
@@ -175,11 +181,17 @@ var deleteCommand = cli.Command{
 		defer cancel()
 
 		ls := client.LeasesService()
-		for _, lid := range lids {
+		sync := context.Bool("sync")
+		for i, lid := range lids {
+			var opts []leases.DeleteOpt
+			if sync && i == len(lids)-1 {
+				opts = append(opts, leases.SynchronousDelete)
+			}
+
 			lease := leases.Lease{
 				ID: lid,
 			}
-			if err := ls.Delete(ctx, lease); err != nil {
+			if err := ls.Delete(ctx, lease, opts...); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 			fmt.Println(lid)
diff --git a/leases/lease.go b/leases/lease.go
index ab462c0fd..909b4ea0b 100644
--- a/leases/lease.go
+++ b/leases/lease.go
@@ -24,10 +24,13 @@ import (
 // Opt is used to set options on a lease
 type Opt func(*Lease) error
 
+// DeleteOpt allows configuring a delete operation
+type DeleteOpt func(context.Context, *DeleteOptions) error
+
 // Manager is used to create, list, and remove leases
 type Manager interface {
 	Create(context.Context, ...Opt) (Lease, error)
-	Delete(context.Context, Lease) error
+	Delete(context.Context, Lease, ...DeleteOpt) error
 	List(context.Context, ...string) ([]Lease, error)
 }
 
@@ -39,6 +42,19 @@ type Lease struct {
 	Labels    map[string]string
 }
 
+// DeleteOptions provide options on image delete
+type DeleteOptions struct {
+	Synchronous bool
+}
+
+// SynchronousDelete is used to indicate that a lease deletion and removal of
+// any unreferenced resources should occur synchronously before returning the
+// result.
+func SynchronousDelete(ctx context.Context, o *DeleteOptions) error {
+	o.Synchronous = true
+	return nil
+}
+
 // WithLabels sets labels on a lease
 func WithLabels(labels map[string]string) Opt {
 	return func(l *Lease) error {
diff --git a/leases/proxy/manager.go b/leases/proxy/manager.go
index 385b22fde..76c5e59fc 100644
--- a/leases/proxy/manager.go
+++ b/leases/proxy/manager.go
@@ -57,9 +57,17 @@ func (pm *proxyManager) Create(ctx context.Context, opts ...leases.Opt) (leases.
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func (pm *proxyManager) Delete(ctx context.Context, l leases.Lease) error {
+func (pm *proxyManager) Delete(ctx context.Context, l leases.Lease, opts ...leases.DeleteOpt) error {
+	var do leases.DeleteOptions
+	for _, opt := range opts {
+		if err := opt(ctx, &do); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	_, err := pm.client.Delete(ctx, &leasesapi.DeleteRequest{
-		ID: l.ID,
+		ID:   l.ID,
+		Sync: do.Synchronous,
 	})
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/metadata/leases.go b/metadata/leases.go
index 25a2a6692..c59172b66 100644
--- a/metadata/leases.go
+++ b/metadata/leases.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (lm *LeaseManager) Create(ctx context.Context, opts ...leases.Opt) (leases.
 }
 
 // Delete delets the lease with the provided lease ID
-func (lm *LeaseManager) Delete(ctx context.Context, lease leases.Lease) error {
+func (lm *LeaseManager) Delete(ctx context.Context, lease leases.Lease, _ ...leases.DeleteOpt) error {
 	namespace, err := namespaces.NamespaceRequired(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/services/leases/local.go b/services/leases/local.go
index 4ec1b2c0a..09aff10f7 100644
--- a/services/leases/local.go
+++ b/services/leases/local.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 
 	"github.com/boltdb/bolt"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/gc"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/leases"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/metadata"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/plugin"
@@ -38,13 +39,25 @@ func init() {
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
-			return &local{db: m.(*metadata.DB)}, nil
+			g, err := ic.Get(plugin.GCPlugin)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return &local{
+				db: m.(*metadata.DB),
+				gc: g.(gcScheduler),
+			}, nil
 		},
 	})
 }
 
+type gcScheduler interface {
+	ScheduleAndWait(context.Context) (gc.Stats, error)
+}
+
 type local struct {
 	db *metadata.DB
+	gc gcScheduler
 }
 
 func (l *local) Create(ctx context.Context, opts ...leases.Opt) (leases.Lease, error) {
@@ -59,10 +72,28 @@ func (l *local) Create(ctx context.Context, opts ...leases.Opt) (leases.Lease, e
 	return lease, nil
 }
 
-func (l *local) Delete(ctx context.Context, lease leases.Lease) error {
-	return l.db.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
+func (l *local) Delete(ctx context.Context, lease leases.Lease, opts ...leases.DeleteOpt) error {
+	var do leases.DeleteOptions
+	for _, opt := range opts {
+		if err := opt(ctx, &do); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err := l.db.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		return metadata.NewLeaseManager(tx).Delete(ctx, lease)
-	})
+	}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if do.Synchronous {
+		if _, err := l.gc.ScheduleAndWait(ctx); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+
 }
 
 func (l *local) List(ctx context.Context, filters ...string) ([]leases.Lease, error) {
diff --git a/services/leases/service.go b/services/leases/service.go
index 94e865a36..b510a5c89 100644
--- a/services/leases/service.go
+++ b/services/leases/service.go
@@ -84,9 +84,13 @@ func (s *service) Create(ctx context.Context, r *api.CreateRequest) (*api.Create
 }
 
 func (s *service) Delete(ctx context.Context, r *api.DeleteRequest) (*ptypes.Empty, error) {
+	var opts []leases.DeleteOpt
+	if r.Sync {
+		opts = append(opts, leases.SynchronousDelete)
+	}
 	if err := s.lm.Delete(ctx, leases.Lease{
 		ID: r.ID,
-	}); err != nil {
+	}, opts...); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return &ptypes.Empty{}, nil