diff --git a/asdf/_asdf.py b/asdf/_asdf.py
index 88d320ccd..32a3bf09c 100644
--- a/asdf/_asdf.py
+++ b/asdf/_asdf.py
@@ -548,6 +548,9 @@ def __getitem__(self, key):
     def __setitem__(self, key, value):
         self.tree[key] = value
 
+    def __delitem__(self, key):
+        del self.tree[key]
+
     def __contains__(self, item):
         return item in self.tree
 
diff --git a/asdf/_tests/test_api.py b/asdf/_tests/test_api.py
index 8ac5d514e..1a8d70603 100644
--- a/asdf/_tests/test_api.py
+++ b/asdf/_tests/test_api.py
@@ -165,6 +165,13 @@ def test_top_level_tree(small_tree):
     ff2["tree"] = small_tree
     assert_tree_match(ff2.tree["tree"], ff2["tree"])
 
+    ff3 = asdf.AsdfFile(tree)
+    assert "tree" in ff3
+    del ff3["tree"]
+    assert "tree" not in ff3
+    with pytest.raises(KeyError):
+        _ = ff3["tree"]
+
 
 def test_top_level_keys(small_tree):
     tree = {"tree": small_tree}
diff --git a/changes/2008.bugfix.rst b/changes/2008.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41bf2289b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/2008.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Added ``__delitem__`` method to `AsdfFile`.