diff --git a/mod/item.php b/mod/item.php
index bd0358ea6c..c658a871d5 100644
--- a/mod/item.php
+++ b/mod/item.php
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ function item_content(&$a) {
 
 			// delete the item
 
-			$r = q("UPDATE `item` SET `deleted` = 1, `edited` = '%s' WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
+			$r = q("UPDATE `item` SET `deleted` = 1, `body` = '', `edited` = '%s' WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
 				dbesc(datetime_convert()),
 				intval($item['id'])
 			);
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ function item_content(&$a) {
 			// If it's the parent of a comment thread, kill all the kids
 
 			if($item['uri'] == $item['parent-uri']) {
-				$r = q("UPDATE `item` SET `deleted` = 1, `edited` = '%s' 
+				$r = q("UPDATE `item` SET `deleted` = 1, `edited` = '%s', `body` = '' 
 					WHERE `parent-uri` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d ",
 					dbesc(datetime_convert()),
 					dbesc($item['parent-uri']),
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ function item_content(&$a) {
 			// send the notification upstream/downstream as the case may be
 
 			proc_close(proc_open("\"$php_path\" \"include/notifier.php\" \"drop\" \"$drop_id\" &",
-				array(),$foo));
+				array(), $foo));
 
 			goaway($a->get_baseurl() . '/' . $_SESSION['return_url']);
 			return; //NOTREACHED