diff --git a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBBranch.java b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBBranch.java
index 38e3d79..5f890f7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBBranch.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBBranch.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public class GitDBBranch {
     /**
      * Lookup a value for the key.
      *
-     * @param key        the key to lookup
+     * @param key the key to lookup
      * @return an Optional containing the value, if it exists, or empty if not
      * @throws IOException if there was an error reading the value
      */
@@ -91,6 +91,16 @@ public class GitDBBranch {
         return updateBranch(commitId);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Removes a key and its value from the store.
+     *
+     * @param key the key to remove
+     * @return an updated branch without the key, or the original if the key was not found
+     */
+    public GitDBBranch remove(final String key) {
+        return this;
+    }
+
     private ObjectId insertBlob(final byte[] blob) throws IOException {
         return gitDBRepo.insertBlob(blob);
     }
@@ -114,5 +124,4 @@ public class GitDBBranch {
         final Ref updatedRef = gitDBRepo.writeHead(branchRef.getName(), commitId);
         return GitDBBranch.withRef(updatedRef, gitDBRepo, userName, userEmailAddress);
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBTest.java b/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBTest.java
index 6de829c..ba569d4 100644
--- a/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDBTest.java
@@ -236,6 +236,16 @@ class GitDBTest implements WithAssertions {
     }
 
     // When removing a key that does not exist then the GitDbBranch is returned
+    @Test
+    void removeKey_whenNotExist_thenReturnOriginal() throws IOException {
+        //given
+        final GitDBBranch gitDBBranch = gitDBBranch();
+        //when
+        final GitDBBranch result = gitDBBranch.remove("unknown");
+        //then
+        assertThat(result).isSameAs(gitDBBranch);
+    }
+
     // When removing a key that does exist then a GitDbBranch is returned
     // When removing a key that does exist then original GitDbBranch can still find it
     // When removing a key that does exist then the updated GitDbBranch can't find it