An operator T on a Banach space is called ‘semi B-Fredholm’ if for some n \in {\tf="times-b"N} the range R(T\;\!^n) of T\;\!^n is closed and the induced operator T_n on R(T\;\!^n) semi-Fredholm. Semi B-Fredholm operators are stable under finite rank perturbation, and subject to the spectral mapping theorem; on Hilbert spaces they decompose as sums of nilpotent and semi-Fredholm operators. In addition some recent generalizations of the punctured neighborhood theorem turn out to be consequences of Grabiner's theory of ‘topological uniform descent’.