diff --git a/zerver/lib/message.py b/zerver/lib/message.py
index f18e267958..8fd5e80716 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/message.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/message.py
@@ -655,7 +655,9 @@ class ReactionDict:
 
 
 def access_message(
-    user_profile: UserProfile, message_id: int
+    user_profile: UserProfile,
+    message_id: int,
+    lock_message: bool = False,
 ) -> Tuple[Message, Optional[UserMessage]]:
     """You can access a message by ID in our APIs that either:
     (1) You received or have previously accessed via starring
@@ -664,9 +666,21 @@ def access_message(
 
     We produce consistent, boring error messages to avoid leaking any
     information from a security perspective.
+
+    The lock_message parameter should be passed by callers that are
+    planning to modify the Message object. This will use the SQL
+    `SELECT FOR UPDATE` feature to ensure that other processes cannot
+    delete the message during the current transaction, which is
+    important to prevent rare race conditions. Callers must only
+    pass lock_message when inside a @transaction.atomic block.
     """
     try:
-        message = Message.objects.select_related().get(id=message_id)
+        base_query = Message.objects.select_related()
+        if lock_message:  # nocoverage
+            # We want to lock only the `Message` row, and not the related fields
+            # because the `Message` row only has a possibility of races.
+            base_query = base_query.select_for_update(of=("self",))
+        message = base_query.get(id=message_id)
     except Message.DoesNotExist:
         raise JsonableError(_("Invalid message(s)"))