diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3a645a6..5a30868 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # Change Log
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. This change log follows the conventions of [keepachangelog.com](http://keepachangelog.com/).
 
-## [4-beta9] - 2024-09-10
-- handling nils carefully in `deep-merge`
+## [4-beta10] - 2024-09-10
+- ignoring nils in `deep-merge`
 
 ## [4-beta9] - 2024-09-10
 - making `merge-options!` and `set-options!` calls hidden in notebooks
diff --git a/dev/scicloj/kindly/gen.clj b/dev/scicloj/kindly/gen.clj
index 0b713a5..949c7d7 100644
--- a/dev/scicloj/kindly/gen.clj
+++ b/dev/scicloj/kindly/gen.clj
@@ -80,14 +80,12 @@
 (defn deep-merge
   \"Recursively merges maps only.\"
   [& xs]
-  (reduce (fn m [a b]
-            (if (and (or (nil? a)
-                         (map? a))
-                     (or (nil? b)
-                         (map? b)))
-              (merge-with m a b)
-              b))
-          xs))
+  (->> xs
+       (remove nil?)
+       (reduce (fn m [a b]
+                 (if (and (map? a) (map? b))
+                   (merge-with m a b)
+                   b)))))
 
 (defn get-options
   []
diff --git a/src/scicloj/kindly/v4/api.cljc b/src/scicloj/kindly/v4/api.cljc
index dce4b23..2882032 100644
--- a/src/scicloj/kindly/v4/api.cljc
+++ b/src/scicloj/kindly/v4/api.cljc
@@ -14,14 +14,12 @@
 (defn deep-merge
   "Recursively merges maps only."
   [& xs]
-  (reduce (fn m [a b]
-            (if (and (or (nil? a)
-                         (map? a))
-                     (or (nil? b)
-                         (map? b)))
-              (merge-with m a b)
-              b))
-          xs))
+  (->> xs
+       (remove nil?)
+       (reduce (fn m [a b]
+                 (if (and (map? a) (map? b))
+                   (merge-with m a b)
+                   b)))))
 
 (defn get-options
   []