diff --git a/src/sbbs3/readmail.cpp b/src/sbbs3/readmail.cpp
index 0468222639f15adf950506f56d8ca088a181f8ee..76d844af8d0cb25067c3cbc4bf64f0c5e57830b6 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/readmail.cpp
+++ b/src/sbbs3/readmail.cpp
@@ -392,6 +392,9 @@ void sbbs_t::readmail(uint usernumber, int which)
 						smb_unlockmsghdr(&smb,&msg); }
 				}
 
+				if(msg.hdr.attr&MSG_DELETE)	/* already marked for deletion */
+					break;
+
 				if(!yesno(str2)) {
 					if(curmsg<msgs-1) curmsg++;
 					else done=1;