diff --git a/wagtail/search/tests/test_backends.py b/wagtail/search/tests/test_backends.py
index 1da24e90a..551e2da45 100644
--- a/wagtail/search/tests/test_backends.py
+++ b/wagtail/search/tests/test_backends.py
@@ -402,15 +402,17 @@ class BackendTests(WagtailTestUtils):
         self.assertSetEqual(results_across_pages, same_rank_objects)
 
     def test_delete(self):
-        # Delete foundation
-        models.Book.objects.filter(title="Foundation").delete()
+        foundation = models.Novel.objects.filter(title="Foundation").first()
 
-        # Refresh the index
-        # Note: The delete signal handler should've removed the book, but we still need to refresh the index manually
-        index = self.backend.get_index_for_model(models.Book)
+        # Delete from the search index
+        index = self.backend.get_index_for_model(models.Novel)
         if index:
+            index.delete_item(foundation)
             index.refresh()
 
+        # Delete from the database
+        foundation.delete()
+
         # To test that the book was deleted from the index as well, we will perform the slicing check from an earlier
         # test where "Foundation" was the first result. We need to test it this way so we can pick up the case where
         # the object still exists in the index but not in the database (in that case, just two objects would be returned
@@ -423,9 +425,10 @@ class BackendTests(WagtailTestUtils):
         results = results[:3]
 
         self.assertEqual(list(r.title for r in results), [
+            # "Foundation"
             "The Hobbit",
             "The Two Towers",
-            "The Fellowship of the Ring"
+            "The Fellowship of the Ring"  # If this item doesn't appear, "Foundation" is still in the index
         ])
 
 
diff --git a/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch2_backend.py b/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch2_backend.py
index c127ada9c..ce8aa78e3 100644
--- a/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch2_backend.py
+++ b/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch2_backend.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import datetime
 import json
-import unittest
 
 import mock
 from django.db.models import Q
@@ -19,11 +18,6 @@ from .test_backends import BackendTests
 class TestElasticsearch2SearchBackend(BackendTests, ElasticsearchCommonSearchBackendTests, TestCase):
     backend_path = 'wagtail.search.backends.elasticsearch2'
 
-    # Broken
-    @unittest.expectedFailure
-    def test_delete(self):
-        super(TestElasticsearch2SearchBackend, self).test_delete()
-
 
 class TestElasticsearch2SearchQuery(TestCase):
     def assertDictEqual(self, a, b):
diff --git a/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch5_backend.py b/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch5_backend.py
index 205f50d13..f32aa7f8e 100644
--- a/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch5_backend.py
+++ b/wagtail/search/tests/test_elasticsearch5_backend.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import datetime
 import json
-import unittest
 
 import mock
 from django.db.models import Q
@@ -18,11 +17,6 @@ from .test_backends import BackendTests
 class TestElasticsearch5SearchBackend(BackendTests, ElasticsearchCommonSearchBackendTests, TestCase):
     backend_path = 'wagtail.search.backends.elasticsearch5'
 
-    # Broken
-    @unittest.expectedFailure
-    def test_delete(self):
-        super(TestElasticsearch5SearchBackend, self).test_delete()
-
 
 class TestElasticsearch5SearchQuery(TestCase):
     def assertDictEqual(self, a, b):