diff --git a/js/modules/data.js b/js/modules/data.js
index ff3c996e7e..392910a5b7 100644
--- a/js/modules/data.js
+++ b/js/modules/data.js
@@ -249,8 +249,7 @@ async function removeMessage(id, { Message }) {
   //   it needs to delete all associated on-disk files along with the database delete.
   if (message) {
     await channels.removeMessage(id);
-    const model = new Message(message);
-    await model.cleanup();
+    await message.cleanup();
   }
 }