diff --git a/lib/message.cc b/lib/message.cc
index 53f35dd1..46638f80 100644
--- a/lib/message.cc
+++ b/lib/message.cc
@@ -1397,14 +1397,15 @@ _notmuch_message_delete (notmuch_message_t *message)
 	Xapian::PostingIterator thread_doc, thread_doc_end;
 	Xapian::PostingIterator mail_doc, mail_doc_end;
 
-	message->notmuch->writable_xapian_db->delete_document (message->doc_id);
-
 	/* look for a non-ghost message in the same thread */
 	/* if this was a ghost to begin with, we are done */
 	private_status = _notmuch_message_has_term (message, "type", "ghost", &is_ghost);
 	if (private_status)
 	    return COERCE_STATUS (private_status,
 				  "Error trying to determine whether message was a ghost");
+
+	message->notmuch->writable_xapian_db->delete_document (message->doc_id);
+
 	if (is_ghost)
 	    return NOTMUCH_STATUS_SUCCESS;