diff --git a/src/Controller/WatchListController.php b/src/Controller/WatchListController.php
index 686e021..f363f8a 100644
--- a/src/Controller/WatchListController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/WatchListController.php
@@ -115,10 +115,10 @@ class WatchListController extends AbstractController
                     ->where('de.domain = :domain')
                     ->andWhere('de.action = \'expiration\'')
                     ->andWhere('de.deleted = FALSE')
-                    ->setParameter('domain', $domain)
                     ->orderBy('de.date', 'DESC')
                     ->setMaxResults(1)
                     ->getQuery()
+                    ->setParameter('domain', $domain)
                     ->getOneOrNullResult();
 
                 if (!$domain->getDeleted() && null !== $exp && !in_array($domain, $domains)) {
diff --git a/src/Service/RDAPService.php b/src/Service/RDAPService.php
index 49872ef..95b663e 100644
--- a/src/Service/RDAPService.php
+++ b/src/Service/RDAPService.php
@@ -378,6 +378,10 @@ class RDAPService
 
                 if (null === $event) {
                     $event = new DomainEvent();
+                } else {
+                    // at this point Doctrine doesn't know that the events are
+                    // deleted in the database, so refresh in order to make the diff work
+                    $this->em->refresh($event);
                 }
 
                 $domain->addEvent($event