diff --git a/lib/package_alternatives.c b/lib/package_alternatives.c
index 3c66f57b..b2867cdd 100644
--- a/lib/package_alternatives.c
+++ b/lib/package_alternatives.c
@@ -249,8 +249,8 @@ xbps_alternatives_set(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *pkgname,
 		const char *group)
 {
 	xbps_array_t allkeys;
-	xbps_dictionary_t alternatives, pkg_alternatives, pkgd;
-	const char *pkgver;
+	xbps_dictionary_t alternatives, pkg_alternatives, pkgd, prevpkgd, prevpkg_alts;
+	const char *pkgver, *prevpkgname;
 	int rv = 0;
 
 	assert(xhp);
@@ -289,6 +289,20 @@ xbps_alternatives_set(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *pkgname,
 		if (array == NULL)
 			continue;
 
+		/* remove symlinks from previous alternative */
+		xbps_array_get_cstring_nocopy(array, 0, &prevpkgname);
+		if (prevpkgname && strcmp(pkgname, prevpkgname) != 0) {
+			if ((prevpkgd = xbps_pkgdb_get_pkg(xhp, prevpkgname)) &&
+			    (prevpkg_alts = xbps_dictionary_get(prevpkgd, "alternatives")) &&
+			    xbps_dictionary_count(prevpkg_alts)) {
+				rv = remove_symlinks(xhp,
+				    xbps_dictionary_get(prevpkg_alts, keyname),
+				    keyname);
+				if (rv != 0)
+					break;
+			}
+		}
+
 		/* put this alternative group at the head */
 		xbps_remove_string_from_array(array, pkgname);
 		kstr = xbps_string_create_cstring(pkgname);
diff --git a/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh b/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh
index adb4be2a..3d0f57d8 100644
--- a/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh
+++ b/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh
@@ -429,6 +429,35 @@ update_pkgs_body() {
 	atf_check_equal $rv 0
 }
 
+atf_test_case less_entries
+
+less_entries_pkgs_head() {
+	atf_set "descr" "xbps-alternatives: remove symlinks not provided by the new alternative"
+}
+less_entries_body() {
+	mkdir -p repo pkg_A/usr/bin pkg_B/usr/bin
+	touch pkg_A/usr/bin/A1 pkg_A/usr/bin/A2 pkg_B/usr/bin/B1
+	cd repo
+	xbps-create -A noarch -n A-1.1_1 -s "A pkg" --alternatives "1:1:/usr/bin/A1 1:2:/usr/bin/A2" ../pkg_A
+	atf_check_equal $? 0
+	xbps-create -A noarch -n B-1.1_1 -s "B pkg" --alternatives "1:1:/usr/bin/B1" ../pkg_B
+	atf_check_equal $? 0
+	xbps-rindex -d -a $PWD/*.xbps
+	atf_check_equal $? 0
+	cd ..
+
+	xbps-install -r root --repository=repo -ydv A B
+	atf_check_equal $? 0
+
+	xbps-alternatives -r root -s B
+	atf_check_equal $? 0
+
+	rv=1
+	[ -e root/usr/bin/2 ] || rv=0
+	atf_check_equal $rv 0
+}
+
+
 atf_init_test_cases() {
 	atf_add_test_case register_one
 	atf_add_test_case register_one_dangling
@@ -441,4 +470,5 @@ atf_init_test_cases() {
 	atf_add_test_case set_pkg
 	atf_add_test_case set_pkg_group
 	atf_add_test_case update_pkgs
+	atf_add_test_case less_entries
 }