diff --git a/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDatabase.cs b/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDatabase.cs
index 5fcddecf..6e1ed41f 100644
--- a/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDatabase.cs
+++ b/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDatabase.cs
@@ -941,9 +941,9 @@ namespace GameCult.Networking
             if (message == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(message));
 
             var key = new CultRecordKey(message.RecordKey);
-            var shard = ResolveShardInternal(message.SchemaId, key);
-            EnsurePrimary(shard, message.SchemaId, key, message.ShardEpoch);
-            var descriptor = _cache.Registry.GetRequiredBySchemaId(message.SchemaId);
+            var descriptor = _documents.ResolveDescriptorForSchemaId(message.SchemaId);
+            var shard = ResolveShardInternal(descriptor, key);
+            EnsurePrimary(shard, descriptor.SchemaId, key, message.ShardEpoch);
             var previous = _cache.Get(key);
             if (previous == null)
             {
diff --git a/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDocumentRegistry.cs b/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDocumentRegistry.cs
index 1da69fae..e2633768 100644
--- a/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDocumentRegistry.cs
+++ b/src/GameCult.Networking/CultNetDocumentRegistry.cs
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ namespace GameCult.Networking
         {
             try
             {
-                return _documents.GetRequiredBySchemaId(document.SchemaId);
+                return ResolveDescriptorForSchemaId(document.SchemaId);
             }
             catch (InvalidOperationException) when (TryResolveDescriptorByPayloadSchema(document.Payload) is { } descriptor)
             {
@@ -404,6 +404,40 @@ namespace GameCult.Networking
             }
         }
 
+        internal CultDocumentDescriptor ResolveDescriptorForSchemaId(string schemaId)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                return _documents.GetRequiredBySchemaId(schemaId);
+            }
+            catch (InvalidOperationException) when (TryResolveDescriptorBySchemaAlias(schemaId) is { } descriptor)
+            {
+                return descriptor;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private CultDocumentDescriptor? TryResolveDescriptorBySchemaAlias(string schemaId)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(schemaId))
+                return null;
+
+            var candidates = ResolvePayloadSchemaCandidates().ToArray();
+            var descriptor = candidates.FirstOrDefault(candidate =>
+                string.Equals(candidate.SchemaId, schemaId, StringComparison.Ordinal) ||
+                string.Equals(candidate.SchemaName, schemaId, StringComparison.Ordinal) ||
+                string.Equals(candidate.SchemaVersion, schemaId, StringComparison.Ordinal) ||
+                candidate.ToCatalogEntry().CompatibleSchemaIds.Any(compatible =>
+                    string.Equals(compatible, schemaId, StringComparison.Ordinal)));
+            if (descriptor != null)
+                return descriptor;
+
+            var schemaName = InferSchemaName(schemaId);
+            return string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(schemaName)
+                ? null
+                : candidates.FirstOrDefault(candidate =>
+                    string.Equals(candidate.SchemaName, schemaName, StringComparison.Ordinal));
+        }
+
         private CultDocumentDescriptor? TryResolveDescriptorByPayloadSchema(byte[] payload)
         {
             var schemaVersion = TryReadSchemaVersion(payload);
diff --git a/tests/GameCult.Networking.Tests/NetworkingTests.cs b/tests/GameCult.Networking.Tests/NetworkingTests.cs
index a7f0f3b5..95282196 100644
--- a/tests/GameCult.Networking.Tests/NetworkingTests.cs
+++ b/tests/GameCult.Networking.Tests/NetworkingTests.cs
@@ -1951,6 +1951,55 @@ namespace GameCult.Networking.Tests
             Assert.That(database.GetMutationLog("wrong-network-notes"), Is.Empty);
         }
 
+        [Test]
+        public async Task CultNetDatabase_Applies_Delete_BySchemaAlias()
+        {
+            var cache = new CultCache();
+            var registry = new CultNetDocumentRegistry(cache.Registry)
+                .Register(CultNetDocumentBinding.ForDocument<NetworkSchemaNote>(cache.Registry));
+            var database = new CultNetDatabase(cache, new CultNetDatabaseOptions
+            {
+                DocumentRegistry = registry,
+                Shards =
+                [
+                    new CultNetShardDescriptor(
+                        "wrong-network-notes",
+                        "runtime-b",
+                        epoch: 1,
+                        isPrimary: false,
+                        schemaIds: ["other.note.v1"],
+                        keyPrefix: "network-note:"),
+                    new CultNetShardDescriptor(
+                        "network-notes",
+                        "runtime-a",
+                        epoch: 2,
+                        isPrimary: true,
+                        schemaIds: ["tests.networking_note.v1"],
+                        keyPrefix: "network-note:")
+                ]
+            });
+            var key = new CultRecordKey("network-note:alias-delete");
+            await database.PutAsync(key, new NetworkSchemaNote
+            {
+                Schema = "tests.networking_note.v1",
+                Text = "delete through alias",
+                Revision = 13
+            });
+
+            await database.ApplyDeleteAsync(new CultNetDocumentDeleteMessage
+            {
+                MessageId = "delete-alias",
+                SchemaId = "tests.networking_note.v1",
+                RecordKey = key.Value,
+                ShardId = "network-notes",
+                ShardEpoch = 2
+            });
+
+            Assert.That(cache.Get<NetworkSchemaNote>(key), Is.Null);
+            Assert.That(database.GetMutationLog("network-notes").Last().Kind, Is.EqualTo(CultNetDatabaseChangeKind.Removed));
+            Assert.That(database.GetMutationLog("wrong-network-notes"), Is.Empty);
+        }
+
         [Test]
         public async Task CultNetDatabase_Predicts_ClientOwnedInput_ThroughSchemaAliasScope()
         {