diff --git a/bin/rebuildPad.js b/bin/rebuildPad.js
index 0013718a9..313510ccd 100644
--- a/bin/rebuildPad.js
+++ b/bin/rebuildPad.js
@@ -110,8 +110,7 @@ async.series([
     // Save the source pad
     db.db.set("pad:"+newPadId, newPad, function(err) {
       console.log("Created: Source Pad: pad:" + newPadId);
-      newPad.saveToDatabase();
-      callback();
+      newPad.saveToDatabase().then(() => callback(), callback);
     });
   }
 ], function (err) {
diff --git a/src/node/db/API.js b/src/node/db/API.js
index 209461114..9f5b786f9 100644
--- a/src/node/db/API.js
+++ b/src/node/db/API.js
@@ -203,11 +203,10 @@ exports.setText = async function(padID, text)
   // get the pad
   let pad = await getPadSafe(padID, true);
 
-  // set the text
-  pad.setText(text);
-
-  // update the clients on the pad
-  padMessageHandler.updatePadClients(pad);
+  await Promise.all([
+    pad.setText(text),
+    padMessageHandler.updatePadClients(pad),
+  ]);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -226,12 +225,11 @@ exports.appendText = async function(padID, text)
     throw new customError("text is not a string", "apierror");
   }
 
-  // get and update the pad
   let pad = await getPadSafe(padID, true);
-  pad.appendText(text);
-
-  // update the clients on the pad
-  padMessageHandler.updatePadClients(pad);
+  await Promise.all([
+    pad.appendText(text),
+    padMessageHandler.updatePadClients(pad),
+  ]);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -287,7 +285,7 @@ exports.setHTML = async function(padID, html)
 
   // add a new changeset with the new html to the pad
   try {
-    importHtml.setPadHTML(pad, cleanText(html));
+    await importHtml.setPadHTML(pad, cleanText(html));
   } catch (e) {
     throw new customError("HTML is malformed", "apierror");
   }
@@ -373,7 +371,7 @@ exports.appendChatMessage = async function(padID, text, authorID, time)
   // @TODO - missing getPadSafe() call ?
 
   // save chat message to database and send message to all connected clients
-  padMessageHandler.sendChatMessageToPadClients(time, authorID, text, padID);
+  await padMessageHandler.sendChatMessageToPadClients(time, authorID, text, padID);
 }
 
 /*****************/
@@ -454,7 +452,7 @@ exports.saveRevision = async function(padID, rev)
   }
 
   let author = await authorManager.createAuthor('API');
-  pad.addSavedRevision(rev, author.authorID, 'Saved through API call');
+  await pad.addSavedRevision(rev, author.authorID, 'Saved through API call');
 }
 
 /**
@@ -575,11 +573,10 @@ exports.restoreRevision = async function(padID, rev)
 
   var changeset = builder.toString();
 
-  // append the changeset
-  pad.appendRevision(changeset);
-
-  // update the clients on the pad
-  padMessageHandler.updatePadClients(pad);
+  await Promise.all([
+    pad.appendRevision(changeset),
+    padMessageHandler.updatePadClients(pad),
+  ]);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -688,7 +685,7 @@ exports.setPublicStatus = async function(padID, publicStatus)
   }
 
   // set the password
-  pad.setPublicStatus(publicStatus);
+  await pad.setPublicStatus(publicStatus);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -726,7 +723,7 @@ exports.setPassword = async function(padID, password)
   let pad = await getPadSafe(padID, true);
 
   // set the password
-  pad.setPassword(password == "" ? null : password);
+  await pad.setPassword(password === '' ? null : password);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/node/db/AuthorManager.js b/src/node/db/AuthorManager.js
index a17952248..2723717db 100644
--- a/src/node/db/AuthorManager.js
+++ b/src/node/db/AuthorManager.js
@@ -245,6 +245,6 @@ exports.removePad = async function(authorID, padID)
   if (author.padIDs !== null) {
     // remove pad from author
     delete author.padIDs[padID];
-    db.set("globalAuthor:" + authorID, author);
+    await db.set('globalAuthor:' + authorID, author);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/node/db/Pad.js b/src/node/db/Pad.js
index 33cc38bcb..85188d2b6 100644
--- a/src/node/db/Pad.js
+++ b/src/node/db/Pad.js
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Pad.prototype.getPublicStatus = function getPublicStatus() {
   return this.publicStatus;
 };
 
-Pad.prototype.appendRevision = function appendRevision(aChangeset, author) {
+Pad.prototype.appendRevision = async function appendRevision(aChangeset, author) {
   if (!author) {
     author = '';
   }
@@ -97,12 +97,14 @@ Pad.prototype.appendRevision = function appendRevision(aChangeset, author) {
     newRevData.meta.atext = this.atext;
   }
 
-  db.set("pad:" + this.id + ":revs:" + newRev, newRevData);
-  this.saveToDatabase();
+  const p = [
+    db.set('pad:' + this.id + ':revs:' + newRev, newRevData),
+    this.saveToDatabase(),
+  ];
 
   // set the author to pad
   if (author) {
-    authorManager.addPad(author, this.id);
+    p.push(authorManager.addPad(author, this.id));
   }
 
   if (this.head == 0) {
@@ -110,10 +112,12 @@ Pad.prototype.appendRevision = function appendRevision(aChangeset, author) {
   } else {
     hooks.callAll("padUpdate", {'pad':this, 'author': author});
   }
+
+  await Promise.all(p);
 };
 
 // save all attributes to the database
-Pad.prototype.saveToDatabase = function saveToDatabase() {
+Pad.prototype.saveToDatabase = async function saveToDatabase() {
   var dbObject = {};
 
   for (var attr in this) {
@@ -127,7 +131,7 @@ Pad.prototype.saveToDatabase = function saveToDatabase() {
     }
   }
 
-  db.set("pad:" + this.id, dbObject);
+  await db.set('pad:' + this.id, dbObject);
 }
 
 // get time of last edit (changeset application)
@@ -244,7 +248,7 @@ Pad.prototype.text = function text() {
   return this.atext.text;
 };
 
-Pad.prototype.setText = function setText(newText) {
+Pad.prototype.setText = async function setText(newText) {
   // clean the new text
   newText = exports.cleanText(newText);
 
@@ -261,10 +265,10 @@ Pad.prototype.setText = function setText(newText) {
   }
 
   // append the changeset
-  this.appendRevision(changeset);
+  await this.appendRevision(changeset);
 };
 
-Pad.prototype.appendText = function appendText(newText) {
+Pad.prototype.appendText = async function appendText(newText) {
   // clean the new text
   newText = exports.cleanText(newText);
 
@@ -274,14 +278,16 @@ Pad.prototype.appendText = function appendText(newText) {
   var changeset = Changeset.makeSplice(oldText, oldText.length, 0, newText);
 
   // append the changeset
-  this.appendRevision(changeset);
+  await this.appendRevision(changeset);
 };
 
-Pad.prototype.appendChatMessage = function appendChatMessage(text, userId, time) {
+Pad.prototype.appendChatMessage = async function appendChatMessage(text, userId, time) {
   this.chatHead++;
   // save the chat entry in the database
-  db.set("pad:" + this.id + ":chat:" + this.chatHead, { "text": text, "userId": userId, "time": time });
-  this.saveToDatabase();
+  await Promise.all([
+    db.set('pad:' + this.id + ':chat:' + this.chatHead, {text, userId, time}),
+    this.saveToDatabase(),
+  ]);
 };
 
 Pad.prototype.getChatMessage = async function getChatMessage(entryNum) {
@@ -350,7 +356,7 @@ Pad.prototype.init = async function init(text) {
     // this pad doesn't exist, so create it
     let firstChangeset = Changeset.makeSplice("\n", 0, 0, exports.cleanText(text));
 
-    this.appendRevision(firstChangeset, '');
+    await this.appendRevision(firstChangeset, '');
   }
 
   hooks.callAll("padLoad", { 'pad':  this });
@@ -366,7 +372,7 @@ Pad.prototype.copy = async function copy(destinationID, force) {
   // padMessageHandler.kickSessionsFromPad(sourceID);
 
   // flush the source pad:
-  this.saveToDatabase();
+  await this.saveToDatabase();
 
 
   try {
@@ -532,6 +538,7 @@ Pad.prototype.copyPadWithoutHistory = async function copyPadWithoutHistory(desti
 
 Pad.prototype.remove = async function remove() {
   var padID = this.id;
+  const p = [];
 
   // kick everyone from this pad
   padMessageHandler.kickSessionsFromPad(padID);
@@ -552,44 +559,45 @@ Pad.prototype.remove = async function remove() {
     delete group.pads[padID];
 
     // set the new value
-    db.set("group:" + groupID, group);
+    p.push(db.set('group:' + groupID, group));
   }
 
   // remove the readonly entries
-  let readonlyID = readOnlyManager.getReadOnlyId(padID);
-
-  db.remove("pad2readonly:" + padID);
-  db.remove("readonly2pad:" + readonlyID);
+  p.push(readOnlyManager.getReadOnlyId(padID).then(async (readonlyID) => {
+    await db.remove('readonly2pad:' + readonlyID);
+  }));
+  p.push(db.remove('pad2readonly:' + padID));
 
   // delete all chat messages
-  promises.timesLimit(this.chatHead + 1, 500, function (i) {
-    return db.remove("pad:" + padID + ":chat:" + i, null);
-  })
+  p.push(promises.timesLimit(this.chatHead + 1, 500, async (i) => {
+    await db.remove('pad:' + padID + ':chat:' + i, null);
+  }));
 
   // delete all revisions
-  promises.timesLimit(this.head + 1, 500, function (i) {
-    return db.remove("pad:" + padID + ":revs:" + i, null);
-  })
+  p.push(promises.timesLimit(this.head + 1, 500, async (i) => {
+    await db.remove('pad:' + padID + ':revs:' + i, null);
+  }));
 
   // remove pad from all authors who contributed
   this.getAllAuthors().forEach(authorID => {
-    authorManager.removePad(authorID, padID);
+    p.push(authorManager.removePad(authorID, padID));
   });
 
   // delete the pad entry and delete pad from padManager
-  padManager.removePad(padID);
+  p.push(padManager.removePad(padID));
   hooks.callAll("padRemove", { padID });
+  await Promise.all(p);
 }
 
 // set in db
-Pad.prototype.setPublicStatus = function setPublicStatus(publicStatus) {
+Pad.prototype.setPublicStatus = async function setPublicStatus(publicStatus) {
   this.publicStatus = publicStatus;
-  this.saveToDatabase();
+  await this.saveToDatabase();
 };
 
-Pad.prototype.setPassword = function setPassword(password) {
+Pad.prototype.setPassword = async function setPassword(password) {
   this.passwordHash = password == null ? null : hash(password, generateSalt());
-  this.saveToDatabase();
+  await this.saveToDatabase();
 };
 
 Pad.prototype.isCorrectPassword = function isCorrectPassword(password) {
@@ -600,7 +608,7 @@ Pad.prototype.isPasswordProtected = function isPasswordProtected() {
   return this.passwordHash != null;
 };
 
-Pad.prototype.addSavedRevision = function addSavedRevision(revNum, savedById, label) {
+Pad.prototype.addSavedRevision = async function addSavedRevision(revNum, savedById, label) {
   // if this revision is already saved, return silently
   for (var i in this.savedRevisions) {
     if (this.savedRevisions[i] && this.savedRevisions[i].revNum === revNum) {
@@ -618,7 +626,7 @@ Pad.prototype.addSavedRevision = function addSavedRevision(revNum, savedById, la
 
   // save this new saved revision
   this.savedRevisions.push(savedRevision);
-  this.saveToDatabase();
+  await this.saveToDatabase();
 };
 
 Pad.prototype.getSavedRevisions = function getSavedRevisions() {
diff --git a/src/node/db/PadManager.js b/src/node/db/PadManager.js
index 89e6a84ab..adbbb79e2 100644
--- a/src/node/db/PadManager.js
+++ b/src/node/db/PadManager.js
@@ -200,10 +200,11 @@ exports.isValidPadId = function(padId)
 /**
  * Removes the pad from database and unloads it.
  */
-exports.removePad = function(padId) {
-  db.remove("pad:" + padId);
+exports.removePad = async (padId) => {
+  const p = db.remove('pad:' + padId);
   exports.unloadPad(padId);
   padList.removePad(padId);
+  await p;
 }
 
 // removes a pad from the cache
diff --git a/src/node/handler/ImportHandler.js b/src/node/handler/ImportHandler.js
index 6ea76cac3..0f076f68f 100644
--- a/src/node/handler/ImportHandler.js
+++ b/src/node/handler/ImportHandler.js
@@ -226,12 +226,12 @@ async function doImport(req, res, padId)
   if (!req.directDatabaseAccess) {
     if (importHandledByPlugin || useConvertor || fileIsHTML) {
       try {
-        importHtml.setPadHTML(pad, text);
+        await importHtml.setPadHTML(pad, text);
       } catch (e) {
         apiLogger.warn("Error importing, possibly caused by malformed HTML");
       }
     } else {
-      pad.setText(text);
+      await pad.setText(text);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js b/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js
index 6f3cab8a5..879d40587 100644
--- a/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js
+++ b/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ async function handleSaveRevisionMessage(client, message)
   var userId = sessioninfos[client.id].author;
 
   let pad = await padManager.getPad(padId);
-  pad.addSavedRevision(pad.head, userId);
+  await pad.addSavedRevision(pad.head, userId);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ exports.sendChatMessageToPadClients = async function(time, userId, text, padId)
   let userName = await authorManager.getAuthorName(userId);
 
   // save the chat message
-  pad.appendChatMessage(text, userId, time);
+  const promise = pad.appendChatMessage(text, userId, time);
 
   let msg = {
     type: "COLLABROOM",
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ exports.sendChatMessageToPadClients = async function(time, userId, text, padId)
 
   // broadcast the chat message to everyone on the pad
   socketio.sockets.in(padId).json.send(msg);
+
+  await promise;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -664,7 +666,7 @@ async function handleUserChanges(data)
     }
 
     try {
-      pad.appendRevision(changeset, thisSession.author);
+      await pad.appendRevision(changeset, thisSession.author);
     } catch(e) {
       client.json.send({ disconnect: "badChangeset" });
       stats.meter('failedChangesets').mark();
@@ -673,13 +675,13 @@ async function handleUserChanges(data)
 
     let correctionChangeset = _correctMarkersInPad(pad.atext, pad.pool);
     if (correctionChangeset) {
-      pad.appendRevision(correctionChangeset);
+      await pad.appendRevision(correctionChangeset);
     }
 
     // Make sure the pad always ends with an empty line.
     if (pad.text().lastIndexOf("\n") !== pad.text().length-1) {
       var nlChangeset = Changeset.makeSplice(pad.text(), pad.text().length - 1, 0, "\n");
-      pad.appendRevision(nlChangeset);
+      await pad.appendRevision(nlChangeset);
     }
 
     await exports.updatePadClients(pad);
diff --git a/src/node/utils/ImportHtml.js b/src/node/utils/ImportHtml.js
index 28ce4f689..8cbfdbab9 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/ImportHtml.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/ImportHtml.js
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ const rehype            = require("rehype")
 const format            = require("rehype-format")
 
 
-exports.setPadHTML = function(pad, html)
-{
+exports.setPadHTML = async (pad, html) => {
   var apiLogger = log4js.getLogger("ImportHtml");
 
   var opts = {
@@ -103,6 +102,8 @@ exports.setPadHTML = function(pad, html)
   var theChangeset = builder.toString();
 
   apiLogger.debug('The changeset: ' + theChangeset);
-  pad.setText("\n");
-  pad.appendRevision(theChangeset);
+  await Promise.all([
+    pad.setText('\n'),
+    pad.appendRevision(theChangeset),
+  ]);
 }