diff --git a/bin/clean_up_empires.pl b/bin/clean_up_empires.pl
index 51b774a4..e4679adb 100644
--- a/bin/clean_up_empires.pl
+++ b/bin/clean_up_empires.pl
@@ -60,14 +60,22 @@ while (my $empire = $to_be_deleted->next) {
 out('Enabling Self Destruct For Inactivity');
 my $abandons_tally;
 my $inactivity_time_out = Lacuna->config->get('self_destruct_after_inactive_days') || 20;
+my $inactivity_time_out_formatted = $dtf->format_datetime(DateTime->now->subtract( days => $inactivity_time_out) );
 my $inactives = $empires->search({ 
-    last_login           => { '<' => $dtf->format_datetime(DateTime->now->subtract( days => $inactivity_time_out) ) }, 
+    last_login           => { '<' => $inactivity_time_out_formatted }, 
     self_destruct_active => 0, 
     id                   => { '>' => 1},
     is_admin             => 0,
 #    disable_self_destruct=> 0,
 });
 while (my $empire = $inactives->next) {
+    # this checks if there were any sitters for this account that have not yet
+    # expired, or that have expired in the last 20 days.  If so, then this
+    # account isn't ready to be checked for reaping yet.
+    my $recent_expires = $empire->sitterauths->
+        search({ expiry => { '>' => $inactivity_time_out_formatted } })->count;
+    next if $recent_expires;
+
     if ($empire->essentia >= 1) {
       unless (Lacuna->cache->get('empire_inactive',$empire->id)) {
         out('Preventing self-destruct by spending essentia.');
diff --git a/bin/clean_up_sitterauths.pl b/bin/clean_up_sitterauths.pl
index 3fcae04f..ae92301e 100644
--- a/bin/clean_up_sitterauths.pl
+++ b/bin/clean_up_sitterauths.pl
@@ -16,18 +16,17 @@ my $rs = LD->resultset("SitterAuths");
 
 # we do not warn about expired auths since we've already warned them for the
 # previous AUTH_WARNING_DAYS days.
-out("Cleaning expired.");
-$rs->clean_expired;
-
 out("Checking for messages to send.");
 
 my $soon = DateTime->now()->add(days => $rs->AUTH_WARNING_DAYS);
 my $dtf = Lacuna->db->storage->datetime_parser;
 
-# probably should join names in here.
 my $warnings = $rs->search(
                            {
-                               expiry => { '<' => $dtf->format_datetime($soon) }
+                               expiry => {
+                                   '<' => $dtf->format_datetime($soon),
+                                   '>' => $dtf->format_datetime(DateTime->now),
+                               },
                            },
                            {
                                join => ['sitter', 'baby'],
@@ -39,7 +38,6 @@ my $warnings = $rs->search(
 my %expiring_sitters;
 my %expiring_babies;
 my $now = DateTime->now;
-#my $formatter = DateTime::Format::Duration->new(pattern => "%e days, %H:%M:%S");
 while (my $auth = $warnings->next)
 {
     my $baby_name   = $auth->get_column('baby_name');
@@ -66,8 +64,6 @@ for my $baby_name (sort keys %expiring_sitters)
                  } sort keys %{$expiring_sitters{$baby_name}}
                 );
 
-    use Data::Dump;
-    dd \@table;
     LD->empire({name => $baby_name})->send_predefined_message(
         tags        => ['Alert'],
         params      => [ @table > 2 ? "Treaties" : "Treaty", 
@@ -93,7 +89,6 @@ for my $sitter_name (keys %expiring_babies)
                  } sort keys %{$expiring_babies{$sitter_name}}
                 );
 
-    dd \@table;
     LD->empire({name => $sitter_name})->send_predefined_message(
         tags        => ['Alert'],
         filename    => 'expiring_babies.txt',
diff --git a/lib/Lacuna/DB/Result/Empire.pm b/lib/Lacuna/DB/Result/Empire.pm
index 0ae88120..2a336440 100644
--- a/lib/Lacuna/DB/Result/Empire.pm
+++ b/lib/Lacuna/DB/Result/Empire.pm
@@ -1153,6 +1153,9 @@ before delete => sub {
     $self->sent_messages->delete;
     $self->received_messages->delete;
     $self->medals->delete;
+    $self->babyauths->delete;
+    $self->sitterauths->delete;
+
     my $planets = $self->planets;
     while ( my $planet = $planets->next ) {
         $planet->sanitize if ($planet->empire_id == $self->id); #In case of a cached space station
diff --git a/lib/Lacuna/DB/ResultSet/SitterAuths.pm b/lib/Lacuna/DB/ResultSet/SitterAuths.pm
index eedfe316..35f1243e 100644
--- a/lib/Lacuna/DB/ResultSet/SitterAuths.pm
+++ b/lib/Lacuna/DB/ResultSet/SitterAuths.pm
@@ -22,18 +22,15 @@ sub remove_auths_from_alliance
                }
               )->get_column('id')->all;
 
-    $self->search({ baby_id => { -in => \@ids }, sitter_id => $user->id })->delete;
-    $self->search({ sitter_id => { -in => \@ids }, baby_id => $user->id })->delete;
+    my $dtf = Lacuna->db->storage->datetime_parser;
+    my $now = $dtf->format_datetime(DateTime->now);
+
+    # set the expiry to immediate.
+    $self->search({ baby_id => { -in => \@ids }, sitter_id => $user->id })->update({expiry => $now});
+    $self->search({ sitter_id => { -in => \@ids }, baby_id => $user->id })->update({expiry => $now});
 }
 
 sub new_auth_date { DateTime->now->add(days => VALID_AUTH_DAYS) }
 
-sub clean_expired
-{
-    my ($self) = @_;
-
-    $self->search({ expiry => { '<', \q[UTC_TIMESTAMP()] } })->delete;
-}
-
 no Moose;
 __PACKAGE__->meta->make_immutable(inline_constructor => 0);
diff --git a/lib/Lacuna/RPC/Empire.pm b/lib/Lacuna/RPC/Empire.pm
index cb3ff590..5c63df8c 100644
--- a/lib/Lacuna/RPC/Empire.pm
+++ b/lib/Lacuna/RPC/Empire.pm
@@ -1266,8 +1266,12 @@ sub deauthorize_sitters
         unless $opts->{empires} and ref $opts->{empires} eq 'ARRAY' and
         none { /\D/ } @{$opts->{empires}};
 
+    my $dtf = Lacuna->db->storage->datetime_parser;
+    my $now = $dtf->format_datetime(DateTime->now);
+
+    # set expiry to immediate
     $rs->search({baby_id => $baby_id, sitter_id => { in => $opts->{empires} }})
-        ->delete();
+        ->update({expiry => $now});
 
     return $self->view_authorized_sitters($session);
 }