diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+[0.5.0]:
+
+* Remove `close` from public API
+
+[0.4.2]:
+
+* Deprecate `close`
+
 [0.4.0]:
 
 * New streaming interface (experimental)
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -3,42 +3,6 @@
 
 [![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/kim/leveldb-haskell.png)](http://travis-ci.org/kim/leveldb-haskell)
 
-## History
-
-Version 0.4.0:
-
-* New streaming interface (experimental)
-
-Version 0.3.1:
-
-* Deprecate `mapIter`, `iterItems`, `iterKeys`, `iterValues`
-
-Version 0.3.0:
-
-* ResourceT is no longer compulsory
-
-Version 0.2.0:
-
-* requires LevelDB v1.7
-* support for filter policy (LevelDB v1.5), either custom or using the built-in
-  bloom filter implementation
-* write batch values no longer require a `memcpy` to be early-finalizer-safe
-  (introduced in 0.1.1)
-
-Version 0.1.0:
-
-* memory (foreign pointers) is managed through
-  [ResourceT](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/resourcet). Note that this
-  requires to lift monadic actions inside the `MonadResource` monad, see the
-  examples.
-* links against shared library (LevelDB v1.3 or higher)
-* LevelDB 1.3 API fully supported (including custom comparators, excluding
-  custom environments)
-
-Version 0.0.x:
-
-* experimental releases
-
 ## Installation
 
 Prerequisites:
diff --git a/leveldb-haskell.cabal b/leveldb-haskell.cabal
--- a/leveldb-haskell.cabal
+++ b/leveldb-haskell.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                leveldb-haskell
-version:             0.4.2
+version:             0.5
 synopsis:            Haskell bindings to LevelDB
 homepage:            http://github.com/kim/leveldb-haskell
 bug-reports:         http://github.com/kim/leveldb-haskell/issues
diff --git a/src/Database/LevelDB/Base.hs b/src/Database/LevelDB/Base.hs
--- a/src/Database/LevelDB/Base.hs
+++ b/src/Database/LevelDB/Base.hs
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 
     -- * Basic Database Manipulations
     , open
-    , close
     , put
     , delete
     , write
@@ -98,15 +97,6 @@
             return db
 
     addFinalizer ref = void . mkWeakIORef ref
-
--- | Close a database.
---
--- The handle will be invalid after calling this action and should no
--- longer be used.
-close :: MonadIO m => DB -> m ()
-close = liftIO . unsafeClose
-{-# DEPRECATED close "'close' is unsafe and will be removed in the next release. Use 'Database.LevelDB.Internal.unsafeClose' if you know what you're doing" #-}
-
 
 -- | Run an action with a 'Snapshot' of the database.
 withSnapshot :: (MonadMask m, MonadIO m) => DB -> (Snapshot -> m a) -> m a