diff --git a/beets/autotag/__init__.py b/beets/autotag/__init__.py
index e774e18eb..0ceb1dfab 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/__init__.py
@@ -122,8 +122,6 @@ def apply_metadata(album_info, mapping, per_disc_numbering=False):
     """
     for item, track_info in mapping.iteritems():
         # Album, artist, track count.
-        if not item:
-            continue
         if track_info.artist:
             item.artist = track_info.artist
         else:
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index 3d0941c92..40265231e 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -281,8 +281,9 @@ class Item(object):
     def write(self):
         """Writes the item's metadata to the associated file.
         """
+        plugins.send('write', item=self)
+
         f = MediaFile(syspath(self.path))
-        plugins.send('write', item=self, mf=f)
         for key in ITEM_KEYS_WRITABLE:
             setattr(f, key, getattr(self, key))
         f.save()
diff --git a/beetsplug/scrub.py b/beetsplug/scrub.py
index 4b82e4c3c..5fd495c20 100755
--- a/beetsplug/scrub.py
+++ b/beetsplug/scrub.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # This file is part of beets.
-# Copyright 2011, Adrian Sampson.
+# Copyright 2012, Adrian Sampson.
 #
 # Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
 # a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
@@ -19,12 +19,26 @@ import logging
 
 from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 from beets import ui
-from beets import mediafile
 from beets import util
 
 log = logging.getLogger('beets')
 
 AUTOSCRUB_KEY = 'autoscrub'
+_MUTAGEN_FORMATS = {
+    'asf': 'ASF',
+    'apev2': 'APEv2File',
+    'flac': 'FLAC',
+    'id3': 'ID3FileType',
+    'mp3': 'MP3',
+    'oggflac': 'OggFLAC',
+    'oggspeex': 'OggSpeex',
+    'oggtheora': 'OggTheora',
+    'oggvorbis': 'OggVorbis',
+    'trueaudio': 'TrueAudio',
+    'wavpack': 'WavPack',
+    'monkeysaudio': 'MonkeysAudio',
+    'optimfrog': 'OptimFROG',
+}
 
 scrubbing = False
 
@@ -47,9 +61,7 @@ class ScrubPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
             # Walk through matching files and remove tags.
             for item in lib.items(ui.decargs(args)):
                 log.info(u'scrubbing: %s' % util.displayable_path(item.path))
-                mf = mediafile.MediaFile(item.path)
-                _scrub(mf)
-                mf.save()
+                _scrub(item.path)
 
                 if opts.write:
                     log.debug(u'writing new tags after scrub')
@@ -65,17 +77,36 @@ class ScrubPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
 
         return [scrub_cmd]
 
-def _scrub(mf):
-    """Remove all tags from a MediaFile by manipulating the underlying
-    Mutagen object.
+def _mutagen_classes():
+    """Get a list of file type classes from the Mutagen module.
     """
-    mf.mgfile.delete()
-    # Reinitialize the MediaFile: also a little hacky.
-    mf.__init__(mf.path)
+    classes = []
+    for modname, clsname in _MUTAGEN_FORMATS.items():
+        mod = __import__('mutagen.{}'.format(modname),
+                         fromlist=[clsname])
+        classes.append(getattr(mod, clsname))
+    return classes
+
+def _scrub(path):
+    """Remove all tags from a file.
+    """
+    for cls in _mutagen_classes():
+        # Try opening the file with this type, but just skip in the
+        # event of any error.
+        try:
+            f = cls(util.syspath(path))
+        except Exception:
+            continue
+        if f.tags is None:
+            continue
+
+        # Remove the tag for this type.
+        f.delete()
+        f.save()
 
 # Automatically embed art into imported albums.
 @ScrubPlugin.listen('write')
-def write_item(item, mf):
+def write_item(item):
     if not scrubbing and options[AUTOSCRUB_KEY]:
         log.debug(u'auto-scrubbing %s' % util.displayable_path(item.path))
-        _scrub(mf)
+        _scrub(item.path)
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 405c5e65a..005f9733f 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ Changelog
 1.0b16 (in development)
 -----------------------
 
+* :doc:`/plugins/scrub`: Scrubbing now removes *all* types of tags from a file
+  rather than just one. For example, if your FLAC file has both ordinary FLAC
+  tags and ID3 tags, the ID3 tags are now also removed.
 * ``list`` command: Templates given with ``-f`` can now show items' paths (using
   ``$path``).
 * Fix album queries for ``artpath`` and other non-item fields.
diff --git a/docs/plugins/scrub.rst b/docs/plugins/scrub.rst
index 9c3ebece5..4c4ca9ff7 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/scrub.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/scrub.rst
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Automatic Scrubbing
 To automatically remove files' tags before writing new ones, just
 enable the plugin (see :doc:`/plugins/index`). When importing new files (with
 ``import_write`` turned on) or modifying files' tags with the ``beet modify``
-command, beets will first strip the tags entirely and then write the
+command, beets will first strip all types of tags entirely and then write the
 database-tracked metadata to the file.
 
 This behavior can be disabled with the ``autoscrub`` config option (see below).
diff --git a/docs/plugins/writing.rst b/docs/plugins/writing.rst
index 738a56bb4..4d2f83217 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/writing.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/writing.rst
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ currently available are:
   singleton to the library (not called for full-album imports). Parameters:
   ``lib``, ``item``, ``config``
 
-* *write*: called with an ``Item`` and a ``MediaFile`` object just before a
-  file's metadata is written to disk.
+* *write*: called with an ``Item`` object just before a file's metadata is
+  written to disk (i.e., just before the file on disk is opened).
 
 * *import_task_start*: called when before an import task begins processing.
   Parameters: ``task`` and ``config``.