diff --git a/federationsender/queue/queue.go b/federationsender/queue/queue.go
index 09e8299b5..1b9532735 100644
--- a/federationsender/queue/queue.go
+++ b/federationsender/queue/queue.go
@@ -164,13 +164,14 @@ func (oqs *OutgoingQueues) SendEDU(
 func (oqs *OutgoingQueues) processRetries() {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	for {
-		time.Sleep(retryInterval)
 		if err := oqs.db.DeleteRetryExpiredEvents(ctx); err != nil {
 			log.WithFields(log.Fields{
 				log.ErrorKey: err,
 			}).Warn("Error cleaning expired retry events")
 		}
 
+		time.Sleep(retryInterval)
+
 		retries, err := oqs.db.SelectRetryEventsPending(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.WithFields(log.Fields{