diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/persistance/DatabaseBackend.java b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/persistance/DatabaseBackend.java
index 121bdc0c210313b4c98571125797cbf6a45646b1..aa335514aab7818503a8b49461d7f09e51a6d684 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/persistance/DatabaseBackend.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/persistance/DatabaseBackend.java
@@ -1107,9 +1107,12 @@ public class DatabaseBackend extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
                 "SELECT * FROM " + Message.TABLENAME + " " +
                 "LEFT JOIN cheogram." + Message.TABLENAME +
                 "  USING (" + Message.UUID + ")" +
-                "WHERE " + Message.CONVERSATION + "=? " +
+                " WHERE " + Message.UUID + " IN (" +
+                "SELECT " + Message.UUID + " FROM " + Message.TABLENAME +
+                " WHERE " + Message.CONVERSATION + "=? " +
                 "ORDER BY " + Message.TIME_SENT + " DESC " +
-                "LIMIT " + String.valueOf(limit),
+                "LIMIT " + String.valueOf(limit) + ") " +
+                "ORDER BY " + Message.TIME_SENT + " DESC ",
                 selectionArgs
             );
         } else {
@@ -1119,10 +1122,13 @@ public class DatabaseBackend extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
                 "SELECT * FROM " + Message.TABLENAME + " " +
                 "LEFT JOIN cheogram." + Message.TABLENAME +
                 "  USING (" + Message.UUID + ")" +
-                "WHERE " + Message.CONVERSATION + "=? AND " +
+                " WHERE " + Message.UUID + " IN (" +
+                "SELECT " + Message.UUID + " FROM " + Message.TABLENAME +
+                " WHERE " + Message.CONVERSATION + "=? AND " +
                 Message.TIME_SENT + "<? " +
                 "ORDER BY " + Message.TIME_SENT + " DESC " +
-                "LIMIT " + String.valueOf(limit),
+                "LIMIT " + String.valueOf(limit) + ") " +
+                "ORDER BY " + Message.TIME_SENT + " DESC ",
                 selectionArgs
             );
         }