diff --git a/docs/src/docs/asciidoc/index.adoc b/docs/src/docs/asciidoc/index.adoc
index 233e211..e335da4 100644
--- a/docs/src/docs/asciidoc/index.adoc
+++ b/docs/src/docs/asciidoc/index.adoc
@@ -301,6 +301,9 @@ For example:
    SADD spring:session:expirations:<expire-rounded-up-to-nearest-minute> <session-id>
    EXPIRE spring:session:expirations:<expire-rounded-up-to-nearest-minute> 1800
 
+The background task will then use these mappings to explicitly request each key.
+By accessing they key, rather than deleting it, we ensure that Redis deletes the key for us only if the TTL is expired.
+
 The Redis expiration is still placed on each key to ensure that if the server is down when the session expires, it is still cleaned up.
 
 [[api-redisoperationssessionrepository-writes]]
diff --git a/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepository.java b/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepository.java
index d67c381..1e30452 100644
--- a/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepository.java
+++ b/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepository.java
@@ -104,8 +104,14 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
  *     EXPIRE spring:session:expirations:<expire-rounded-up-to-nearest-minute> 1800
  * }
  *
+ * <p>
+ * The background task will then use these mappings to explicitly request each key.
+ * By accessing they key, rather than deleting it, we ensure that Redis deletes the key for us only if the TTL is expired.
+ * </p>
+ * <p>
  * The Redis expiration is still placed on each key to ensure that if the server
  * is down when the session expires, it is still cleaned up.
+ * </p>
  *
  * @since 1.0
  *
diff --git a/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisSessionExpirationPolicy.java b/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisSessionExpirationPolicy.java
index 1f7b8af..c872703 100644
--- a/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisSessionExpirationPolicy.java
+++ b/spring-session/src/main/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisSessionExpirationPolicy.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import org.springframework.session.data.redis.RedisOperationsSessionRepository.R
  * order to ensure expired session events are processed in a timely fashion the
  * expiration (rounded to the nearest minute) is mapped to all the sessions that
  * expire at that time. Whenever {@link #cleanExpiredSessions()} is invoked, the
- * sessions for the previous minute are then deleted explicitly.
+ * sessions for the previous minute are then accessed to ensure they are deleted if expired.
  *
  * In some instances the {@link #cleanExpiredSessions()} method may not be not
  * invoked for a specific time. For example, this may happen when a server is
@@ -108,18 +108,21 @@ final class RedisSessionExpirationPolicy {
 
         String expirationKey = getExpirationKey(prevMin);
         Set<String> sessionsToExpire = expirationRedisOperations.boundSetOps(expirationKey).members();
-        Set<String> keysToDelete = new HashSet<String>(sessionsToExpire.size() + 1);
-        keysToDelete.add(expirationKey);
+        touch(expirationKey);
         for(String session : sessionsToExpire) {
             String sessionKey = getSessionKey(session);
-            keysToDelete.add(sessionKey);
+            touch(sessionKey);
         }
+    }
 
-        sessionRedisOperations.delete(keysToDelete);
-
-        if(logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
-            logger.debug("The following expired Sessions were deleted " + keysToDelete);
-        }
+    /**
+     * By trying to access the session we only trigger a deletion if it the TTL is expired. This is done to handle
+     * https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-session/issues/93
+     *
+     * @param key
+     */
+    private void touch(String key) {
+        sessionRedisOperations.hasKey(key);
     }
 
     private long roundUpToNextMinute(long timeInMs, int inactiveIntervalInSec) {
diff --git a/spring-session/src/test/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepositoryTests.java b/spring-session/src/test/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepositoryTests.java
index d736f4a..da0c75d 100644
--- a/spring-session/src/test/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepositoryTests.java
+++ b/spring-session/src/test/java/org/springframework/session/data/redis/RedisOperationsSessionRepositoryTests.java
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ public class RedisOperationsSessionRepositoryTests {
     BoundSetOperations<String, String> boundSetOperations;
     @Captor
     ArgumentCaptor<Map<String,Object>> delta;
-    @Captor
-    ArgumentCaptor<Set<String>> keys;
 
     private RedisOperationsSessionRepository redisRepository;
 
@@ -237,19 +235,17 @@ public class RedisOperationsSessionRepositoryTests {
         String expiredId = "expired-id";
         when(redisOperations.boundHashOps(getKey(expiredId))).thenReturn(boundHashOperations);
         when(redisOperations.boundSetOps(anyString())).thenReturn(boundSetOperations);
+
         Set<String> expiredIds = new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList("expired-key1","expired-key2"));
         when(boundSetOperations.members()).thenReturn(expiredIds);
 
         redisRepository.cleanupExpiredSessions();
 
-        verify(redisOperations).delete(keys.capture());
-
         for(String id : expiredIds) {
             String expiredKey = RedisOperationsSessionRepository.BOUNDED_HASH_KEY_PREFIX + id;
-            assertThat(keys.getValue()).contains(expiredKey);
+            // https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-session/issues/93
+            verify(redisOperations).hasKey(expiredKey);
         }
-        // the key that maps the expiration time to the expired ids
-        assertThat(keys.getValue().size()).isEqualTo(expiredIds.size() + 1);
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")