diff --git a/docs/plugins.rst b/docs/plugins.rst
index 2954a05..decf558 100644
--- a/docs/plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins.rst
@@ -183,7 +183,11 @@ Training a classifier can be time time consuming. To avoid running the training
               def deactivate(self):
                   self.close()
 
-You can speficy a 'shelf_file' in your .senpy file. By default the ShelfMixin creates a file based on the plugin name and stores it in that plugin's folder.
+You can specify a 'shelf_file' in your .senpy file. By default the ShelfMixin creates a file based on the plugin name and stores it in that plugin's folder.
+
+Shelves may get corrupted if the plugin exists unexpectedly.
+A corrupt shelf prevents the plugin from loading.
+If you do not care about the pickle, you can force your plugin to remove the corrupted file and load anyway, set the  'force_shelf' to True in your .senpy file.
 
 I want to implement my service as a plugin, How i can do it?
 ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
diff --git a/senpy/models.py b/senpy/models.py
index 2025d31..b47947f 100644
--- a/senpy/models.py
+++ b/senpy/models.py
@@ -237,7 +237,10 @@ class BaseModel(SenpyMixin, dict):
         self.__setitem__(self._get_key(key), value)
 
     def __delattr__(self, key):
-        self.__delitem__(self._get_key(key))
+        try:
+            object.__delattr__(self, key)
+        except AttributeError:
+            self.__delitem__(self._get_key(key))
 
     def _plain_dict(self):
         d = {k: v for (k, v) in self.items() if k[0] != "_"}
diff --git a/senpy/plugins/__init__.py b/senpy/plugins/__init__.py
index b45a7f4..63bb66e 100644
--- a/senpy/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/senpy/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -96,7 +96,12 @@ class ShelfMixin(object):
         if not hasattr(self, '_sh') or self._sh is None:
             self.__dict__['_sh'] = {}
             if os.path.isfile(self.shelf_file):
-                self.__dict__['_sh'] = pickle.load(open(self.shelf_file, 'rb'))
+                try:
+                    self.__dict__['_sh'] = pickle.load(open(self.shelf_file, 'rb'))
+                except (IndexError, EOFError, pickle.UnpicklingError):
+                    logger.warning('{} has a corrupted shelf file!'.format(self.id))
+                    if not self.get('force_shelf', False):
+                        raise
         return self._sh
 
     @sh.deleter
diff --git a/tests/test_plugins.py b/tests/test_plugins.py
index 946f77e..dbfe60d 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugins.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugins.py
@@ -83,7 +83,39 @@ class PluginsTest(TestCase):
         res2 = a.analyse(input=1)
         assert res2.entries[0].nif__isString == 2
 
-    def test_two(self):
+    def test_corrupt_shelf(self):
+        ''' Reusing the values of a previous shelf '''
+
+        emptyfile = os.path.join(self.shelf_dir, "emptyfile")
+        invalidfile = os.path.join(self.shelf_dir, "invalid_file")
+        with open(emptyfile, 'w+b'), open(invalidfile, 'w+b') as inf:
+            inf.write(b'ohno')
+
+        files = {emptyfile: ['empty file', (EOFError, IndexError)],
+                 invalidfile: ['invalid file', (pickle.UnpicklingError, IndexError)]}
+
+        for fn in files:
+            with open(fn, 'rb') as f:
+                msg, error = files[fn]
+                a = ShelfDummyPlugin(info={
+                    'name': 'shelve',
+                    'version': 'test',
+                    'shelf_file': f.name
+                })
+                assert os.path.isfile(a.shelf_file)
+                print('Shelf file: %s' % a.shelf_file)
+                with self.assertRaises(error):
+                    a.sh['a'] = 'fromA'
+                    a.save()
+                del a._sh
+                assert os.path.isfile(a.shelf_file)
+                a.force_shelf = True
+                a.sh['a'] = 'fromA'
+                a.save()
+                b = pickle.load(f)
+                assert b['a'] == 'fromA'
+
+    def test_reuse_shelf(self):
         ''' Reusing the values of a previous shelf '''
         a = ShelfDummyPlugin(info={
             'name': 'shelve',