diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_senders.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_senders.js
index f8d6498751..406db848f8 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_senders.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_senders.js
@@ -205,6 +205,6 @@ run_test("process_message_for_senders", () => {
     // delete message1 and message5 sent by sender1
     messages.splice(4, 1);
     messages.splice(0, 1);
-    rs.update_topics_of_message_ids([message1.id, message5.id]);
+    rs.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids([message1.id, message5.id]);
     assert.equal(rs.get_topic_recent_senders(stream1, topic1).toString(), "2");
 });
diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_topics.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_topics.js
index a45fe2b9bd..7211328863 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_topics.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/recent_topics.js
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ run_test("test_delete_messages", () => {
         Array.from(all_topics.keys()).toString(),
         "4:topic-10,1:topic-7,1:topic-6,1:topic-5,1:topic-4,1:topic-3,1:topic-2,1:topic-1",
     );
-    rt.update_topics_of_message_ids([messages[0].id]);
+    rt.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids([messages[0].id]);
 
     all_topics = rt.get();
     assert.equal(
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ run_test("test_delete_messages", () => {
         },
     });
 
-    rt.update_topics_of_message_ids([messages[1].id, messages[2].id]);
+    rt.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids([messages[1].id, messages[2].id]);
 
     all_topics = rt.get();
     assert.equal(
diff --git a/static/js/recent_senders.js b/static/js/recent_senders.js
index 77239aefdb..1d95ca7751 100644
--- a/static/js/recent_senders.js
+++ b/static/js/recent_senders.js
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ exports.process_topic_edit = function (old_stream_id, old_topic, new_topic, new_
     // the messages were moved to another stream or deleted.
 };
 
-exports.update_topics_of_message_ids = function (message_ids) {
+exports.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids = function (message_ids) {
     const topics_to_update = new Map();
     for (const msg_id of message_ids) {
         // message_store still has data on deleted messages when this runs.
diff --git a/static/js/recent_topics.js b/static/js/recent_topics.js
index f699aa4ef5..2ec13c7f9f 100644
--- a/static/js/recent_topics.js
+++ b/static/js/recent_topics.js
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ exports.topic_in_search_results = function (keyword, stream, topic) {
     return search_words.every((word) => text.includes(word));
 };
 
-exports.update_topics_of_message_ids = function (message_ids) {
+exports.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids = function (message_ids) {
     const topics_to_rerender = new Map();
     for (const msg_id of message_ids) {
         const message = message_store.get(msg_id);
diff --git a/static/js/ui.js b/static/js/ui.js
index 37b7dce08f..15a27b9749 100644
--- a/static/js/ui.js
+++ b/static/js/ui.js
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@ exports.remove_messages = function (message_ids) {
         }
         list.remove_and_rerender(msg_ids_to_rerender);
     }
-    recent_senders.update_topics_of_message_ids(message_ids);
-    recent_topics.update_topics_of_message_ids(message_ids);
+    recent_senders.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids(message_ids);
+    recent_topics.update_topics_of_deleted_message_ids(message_ids);
 };
 
 exports.show_failed_message_success = function (message_id) {