diff --git a/zerver/views/streams.py b/zerver/views/streams.py
index 7a2a950a35..cb96bc5130 100644
--- a/zerver/views/streams.py
+++ b/zerver/views/streams.py
@@ -1323,8 +1323,10 @@ def delete_in_topic(
         if time.monotonic() >= start_time + 50:
             return json_success(request, data={"complete": False})
         with transaction.atomic(durable=True):
-            messages_to_delete = messages.order_by("-id")[0:batch_size].select_for_update(
-                of=("self",)
+            messages_to_delete = (
+                messages.select_related("recipient")
+                .order_by("-id")[0:batch_size]
+                .select_for_update(of=("self",))
             )
             if not messages_to_delete:
                 break