diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 2f9cc8f4..90920dc8 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 xbps-0.20 (???):
 
+ * libxbps: fixed a stupid typo that made it to skip executing the
+   "pre-remove" action in installed packages.
+
  * xbps-create(8): new long options: --shlib-provides and --shlib-requires,
    to add list of required and provided shared libraries in a package.
 
diff --git a/lib/package_remove.c b/lib/package_remove.c
index 0b6fc03b..3118e19a 100644
--- a/lib/package_remove.c
+++ b/lib/package_remove.c
@@ -233,8 +233,6 @@ xbps_remove_pkg(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 	if (!update)
 		xbps_set_cb_state(xhp, XBPS_STATE_REMOVE, 0, pkgname, version, NULL);
 
-	pkgver = xbps_xasprintf("%s-%s", pkgname, version);
-
 	if (chdir(xhp->rootdir) == -1) {
 		rv = errno;
 		xbps_set_cb_state(xhp, XBPS_STATE_REMOVE_FAIL,
@@ -259,7 +257,8 @@ xbps_remove_pkg(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 	 * Run the pre remove action.
 	 */
 	if (pkgd) {
-		rv = xbps_pkg_exec_script(xhp, pkgd, "remove", "pre", update);
+		rv = xbps_pkg_exec_script(xhp, pkgd, "remove-script",
+		    "pre", update);
 		if (rv != 0) {
 			xbps_set_cb_state(xhp, XBPS_STATE_REMOVE_FAIL,
 			    errno, pkgname, version,