diff --git a/app/actions/contact_merge_action.rb b/app/actions/contact_merge_action.rb
index 650dbe89f..2633c907d 100644
--- a/app/actions/contact_merge_action.rb
+++ b/app/actions/contact_merge_action.rb
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class ContactMergeAction
     # attributes in base contact are given preference
     merged_attributes = mergee_contact_attributes.deep_merge(base_contact_attributes)
 
-    @mergee_contact.destroy!
+    @mergee_contact.reload.destroy!
     Rails.configuration.dispatcher.dispatch(CONTACT_MERGED, Time.zone.now, contact: @base_contact,
                                                                            tokens: [@base_contact.contact_inboxes.filter_map(&:pubsub_token)])
     @base_contact.update!(merged_attributes)