diff --git a/xray/utils.py b/xray/utils.py
index 066435b..864d844 100644
--- a/xray/utils.py
+++ b/xray/utils.py
@@ -69,11 +69,11 @@ def timeToStr(delay,fmt="%+.0f"):
 
 def removeExt(fname):
   """ special remove extension meant to work with compressed files.edf and .edf.gz files """
-  if fname[-3:] == ".gz": fname = fname[-3:]
+  if fname[-3:] == ".gz": fname = fname[:-3]
   return os.path.splitext(fname)[0]
 
 def getBasename(fname):
-  return removeExt(os.path.basename(fname));
+  return os.path.basename(removeExt(fname));
 
 def findSlice(array,lims):
   start = np.ravel(np.argwhere(array>lims[0]))[0]