diff --git a/cmdarg.sh b/cmdarg.sh
index a940cc0..3829912 100644
--- a/cmdarg.sh
+++ b/cmdarg.sh
@@ -324,12 +324,7 @@ function cmdarg_purge
     arrays="$arrays CMDARG_FLAGS CMDARG_TYPES"
     for arr in $arrays
     do
-	str='${!'"$arr"'[@]}'
-	for key in $(eval "echo $str")
-	do
-	    str="$arr[$key]"
-	    eval "unset $str"
-	done
+	eval "$arr=()"
     done
     CMDARG_GETOPTLIST="h"
 }
diff --git a/tests/test_clean_state.sh b/tests/test_clean_state.sh
index 48297fc..f8f288e 100644
--- a/tests/test_clean_state.sh
+++ b/tests/test_clean_state.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,30 @@
 source $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE})/../cmdarg.sh
 
+function shunittest_clean_state_usable()
+{
+    function parse1()
+    {
+	cmdarg 'a:' 'a' 'some arg'
+	cmdarg 'b' 'b' 'some arg'
+	cmdarg_parse "$@"
+    }
+
+    function parse2()
+    {
+	cmdarg_purge
+	cmdarg 'c:' 'c' 'some arg'
+	cmdarg 'd' 'd' 'some arg'
+	cmdarg_parse "$@"
+    }
+    parse1 -a 3 -b
+    parse2 -c 5 -d
+    [[ "${cmdarg_cfg['c']}" == "5" ]] || return 1
+    [[ "${cmdarg_cfg['d']}" == "true" ]] || return 1
+    [[ "${cmdarg_cfg['a']}" == "" ]] || return 1
+    [[ "${cmdarg_cfg['b']}" == "" ]] || return 1
+    return 0
+}
+
 function shunittest_clean_state()
 {
     # Tests that cmdarg_purge ensures an empty config state
@@ -55,4 +80,4 @@ function shunittest_clean_state_subshells()
 	cmdarg_dump
 	return 1
     fi
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}