diff --git a/src/Data.Postgres.Extract.Record.purs b/src/Data.Postgres.Extract.Record.purs
index 82555b2..98b69ee 100644
--- a/src/Data.Postgres.Extract.Record.purs
+++ b/src/Data.Postgres.Extract.Record.purs
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@ import Prelude
 import Control.Monad.Error.Class (liftMaybe)
 import Data.Array as Array
 import Data.Either (Either)
-import Data.Maybe (Maybe, fromMaybe, isJust)
+import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
 import Data.Postgres.Types (RawRow(..))
-import Data.Traversable (sequence, traverse)
 import Database.PostgreSQL (class FromSQLValue, fromSQLValue)
 import Foreign (Foreign)
 import Prim.Row (class Cons, class Lacks)
@@ -39,35 +38,18 @@ skip :: forall a. ExtractRecord a -> ExtractRecord a
 skip (ExtractRecord r a) = ExtractRecord (fromMaybe [] $ Array.tail r) a
 
 field
-  :: forall a b @k @v
+  :: forall a b k @v
    . Show (Record a)
   => Lacks k a
   => Cons k v a b
   => IsSymbol k
   => FromSQLValue v
-  => ExtractRecord $ Record a
+  => Proxy k
+  -> ExtractRecord $ Record a
   -> Either String $ ExtractRecord $ Record b
-field (ExtractRecord row r) = do
+field _ (ExtractRecord row r) = do
   let
     eempty = "no more values to consume, built: " <> show r
   col <- liftMaybe eempty $ Array.head row
   val <- fromSQLValue col
   pure $ skip $ ExtractRecord row $ Record.insert (Proxy @k) val r
-
-optional
-  :: forall a b @k @v
-   . Show (Record a)
-  => Lacks k a
-  => Cons k v a b
-  => IsSymbol k
-  => FromSQLValue (Maybe v)
-  => ExtractRecord $ Record a
-  -> Either String $ ExtractRecord $ Maybe $ Record b
-optional (ExtractRecord row r) = do
-  let
-    col = Array.head row
-    skip' = if isJust col then skip else identity
-  val :: Maybe v <- map join $ traverse fromSQLValue col
-  pure
-    $ sequence
-    $ map (\v -> skip' $ ExtractRecord row $ Record.insert (Proxy @k) v r) val
diff --git a/test/Spec.Data.Postgres.Record.purs b/test/Spec.Data.Postgres.Record.purs
index f4911f6..2704bb3 100644
--- a/test/Spec.Data.Postgres.Record.purs
+++ b/test/Spec.Data.Postgres.Record.purs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import Effect.Exception (error)
 import Foreign (unsafeToForeign)
 import Test.Spec (Spec, describe, it)
 import Test.Spec.Assertions (shouldEqual)
+import Type.Prelude (Proxy(..))
 
 spec :: Spec Unit
 spec =
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ spec =
     it "fails when type incorrect" do
       let
         raw = RawRow [ unsafeToForeign 12 ]
-        actual = map Rec.finish $ Rec.field @"foo" @String $ Rec.start raw
+        actual = map Rec.finish $ Rec.field @String (Proxy @"foo") $ Rec.start raw
       when (isRight actual) $ throwError $ error "should have failed"
     it "succeeds" do
       let
@@ -36,10 +37,10 @@ spec =
         liftEither
           $ lmap error
           $ Rec.extract
-              ( Rec.field @"num"
-                  >=> Rec.field @"str"
+              ( Rec.field (Proxy @"num")
+                  >=> Rec.field (Proxy @"str")
                   >=> (pure <<< Rec.skip)
-                  >=> Rec.field @"arr"
+                  >=> Rec.field (Proxy @"arr")
               )
           $ raw
       actual `shouldEqual` { num: 12, str: "hello", arr: [ 1, 2, 3 ] }