diff --git a/src/webserver.js b/src/webserver.js
index ff0aa67221..5ddb6b3302 100644
--- a/src/webserver.js
+++ b/src/webserver.js
@@ -222,14 +222,11 @@ var express = require('express'),
 			}
 
 			async.waterfall([
-				function(next) {
-					topics.getTopicField(tid, 'deleted', function(err, deleted) {
-						if(deleted === '1')
-							return next(1, null);
-					});
-				},
 				function(next) {
 					topics.getTopicWithPosts(tid, ((req.user) ? req.user.uid : 0), function(err, topicData) {
+						if(topicData.deleted === '1' && topicData.expose_tools === 0)
+							return next(new Error('Topic deleted'), null);
+
 						next(err, topicData);
 					});
 				},