diff --git a/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py b/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py
index 33f09352b958..277aff28d4d7 100644
--- a/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py
+++ b/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ def delete_course_index(self, course_key):
                 key_attr: getattr(course_key, key_attr)
                 for key_attr in ('org', 'course', 'run')
             }
-            return self.course_index.remove(query)
+            return self.course_index.delete_one(query)
 
     def get_definition(self, key, course_context=None):
         """