diff --git a/combine-saves.pl b/combine-saves.pl
index 5dee707..4ae5ac8 100755
--- a/combine-saves.pl
+++ b/combine-saves.pl
@@ -22,24 +22,6 @@
 #
 #################
 
-use strict;
-use warnings;
-
-# if no DB file
-our ($default_db_file) =  q(max-counts.txt);;
-
-# specify as -# or --check=# (e.g. -0 or --check=0)
-# 0, no; 1, -exist; 2, ipset test, 3, both exit and test
-our ($check);
-
-our @check_bits = map unpack("B*", pack("N", $_)), 0,1;
-
-# whether to print to STDERR for each add skipped
-# this only affects $check = 2 (--check=2/-2)
-our ($checkwarn);
-
-our (%m,%h);
-
 sub usage {
     my $message = shift;
     $message .= "\n" if $message;
@@ -57,69 +39,37 @@ sub max2 {
   return $rv;
 }
 
-sub db {
-  my %m;
-  my( $file ) = grep defined&&length,(
-    @_,
-    $default_db_file,
-    q(max-counts.txt)
-  ); #$default_db_file;
-  open my$FH, '<', $file
-      or usage( q(ERROR: cannot open DB)
-		. qq( "$file": $!)
-		. ' ('.( 0+$! ).')'
-	    );
-  while (my $line = <$FH>) {
-    chomp $line;
-    if ($line) {
-      my($k,$v) = split /\s+/, $line;
-      if ($k and $v) {
-	$m{$k} = $v;
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  return %m;
-}
-
 BEGIN # program is a filter so we must wrap start-up processing
 {
-    # avoid extra "BEGIN failed--" messages
-    $SIG{__DIE__} = sub {warn @_; exit 1};
+    # avoid extra "BEGIN faile--" messages
+    local $SIG{__DIE__} = sub {warn @_; exit 1};
 
     # display usage if requested
     usage() if grep /^-+[?h]/, @ARGV;
 
-    # process options (must come first, must start with -)
-    while (@ARGV and $ARGV[0] =~ /^-+(.*)/) {
-	local $_ = $1;
-	if (/^(?:c(?:check)?)?=?([0123]|t(?:est)?)$/) {
-	    $check = $1;
-	    $check = 2 # --check=test
-		if lc($1) =~ /^t/;
-	    shift @ARGV;
-	}
-	elsif (/^w?(?:arn)?$/) {
-	    $checkwarn = 1;
-	    shift @ARGV;
-	}
-	else {
-	    usage( qq(ERROR: unknown option "$ARGV[0]") );
-	}
-    }
-
-    # default: use -exist option to add (via ipset restore)
-    $checkwarn = 0 unless defined $checkwarn;
-    $check = 1 unless defined $check;
-    $check = unpack("B*", pack("N", $check)) if $check;
-
-
     # and unless we have input
     die usage(
 	qq(ERROR: STDIN is non a pipe or redirection)
     ) if -t STDIN;
 
-    # read db, check remaining command-line DB file
-    %m = db( @ARGV ); # use Data::Dumper; die Dumper( \%m );
+    # take max-count-file from args, if any
+    my $SET_COUNTS = @ARGV ? shift : q(max-counts.txt);
+
+    open my$FH,q(<),$SET_COUNTS
+	or usage(
+	    q(ERROR: cannot open max-count-file)
+	    . qq( "$SET_COUNTS": $!)
+	    . ' ('.(0+$!).')'
+	);
+
+    # load hash of set => max
+    while(<$FH>)
+    {
+	chomp;
+	my( $k, $v ) = split;
+	$m{ $k } = max2( $v )
+	    if $k and $v
+    }
 }
 
 if( /^create (\S+)/ )
@@ -128,8 +78,8 @@ if( /^create (\S+)/ )
 	$_ = ''; # don't print again
     } elsif( exists $m{ $1 } ) {
 	$h{$1} = 1; # ensure this is the only printing
-	my $n = $1; # grab the name
-	my $v = $m{$n}; # lookup max
+	$n = $1; # grab the name
+	$v = $m{$n}; # lookup max
 	# mangle the create to inject maxelem from DB
 	s/^create $n (.*?maxelem) \d+ (.*)$/create $n $1 $v $2/
 	    #and warn qq[set $n=$v]
@@ -139,20 +89,10 @@ if( /^create (\S+)/ )
 }
 elsif( /^add (\S+)/ )
 {
-    my $set = $1;
-    $_ = '', next unless exists $m{$1};
-    if ($check) {
-      if ($check & ( 1<< $check_bits[1])) {
-	my( $ip ) = /$set (\S+)/s;
-	unless (system( qq(ipset test "$set" "$ip" >/dev/null 2>&1) )) {
-	  warn qq[skip $set $ip (ipset test -eq 0)\n]
-	      if $checkwarn;
-	  $_ = '';
-	  next;
-	}
-      }
-      if ($check & ( 1<< $check_bits[0])) {
-	s/$/ -exist/
-      }
+    # $_ = '' unless exists $m{$1};
+    if (exists $m{$1}) {
+	s/$/ -exist/; # make dup-safe
+    } else {
+	$_ = ''; # skip add for set we cannot create
     }
 }
diff --git a/save-restore.sh b/save-restore.sh
index 0b5be59..8b990a1 100755
--- a/save-restore.sh
+++ b/save-restore.sh
@@ -25,25 +25,14 @@
 #
 #################
 
-##
-# options to control duplicate IP checks:
-#  0 - no checking
-#  1 - in restore, append -exist to ipset add
-#  2 - in parse, run ipcheck test check
-#  3 - in both restore and parse, exist & test
-check=${check:-}  # take default from combine-saves.pl
-
 folder=${folder:-}
 
 savext=${savext:-.save}
 
 db=${db:-name-maxelem.db}
-
 dbtmp=${dbtmp:-$db.tmp}
-
 ipset=${ipset:-$(which ipset)}
 ipsetcmd=${ipsetcmd:-restore}
-
 scriptdir=${scriptdir:-$(dirname $0)}
 savecnt="${scriptdir}/save-count.pl"
 sortcnt="${scriptdir}/combine-counts.pl"
@@ -51,10 +40,6 @@ loadset="${scriptdir}/combine-saves.pl"
 
 files=${files:-"$@"}
 
-if test -n "$check" ; then
-    check="--check=$checkdef";
-fi
-
 if test -z "$files" ; then
     files=$(ls -1 ${folder}*${savext} 2>/dev/null)
 fi
@@ -68,7 +53,7 @@ cat "$files" | \
     $savecnt >$dbtmp \
     && $sortcnt <$dbtmp >$db \
     && cat "$files" \
-	| $loadset $check $db \
+	| $loadset $db \
 	| $ipset $ipsetcmd
 RV=$?
 rm -f $dbtmp 2>/dev/null