diff --git a/plugins/message-logger/src/index.ts b/plugins/message-logger/src/index.ts
index 5fddfde..6ccfc8e 100644
--- a/plugins/message-logger/src/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/message-logger/src/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { storage } from "@vendetta/plugin";
 import Settings from "./ui/Settings";
 import { patchFluxIntercept, revertFakedMessages } from "./patches/fluxIntercept";
 import { patchRowStyling } from "./patches/rowStyling";
-import { patchMessageRecord } from "./patches/messageRecord";
 
 const TAG = "[MessageLogger]";
 const cleanups: (() => void)[] = [];
@@ -35,9 +34,8 @@ export default {
         let patched = 0;
         if (patchFluxIntercept(cleanups)) patched++;
         if (patchRowStyling(cleanups)) patched++;
-        if (patchMessageRecord(cleanups)) patched++;
 
-        console.log(TAG, `onLoad done - ${patched}/3 patches applied`);
+        console.log(TAG, `onLoad done - ${patched}/2 patches applied`);
     },
     onUnload() {
         console.log(TAG, "onUnload");
diff --git a/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/fluxIntercept.ts b/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/fluxIntercept.ts
index 72dfb11..9ba4133 100644
--- a/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/fluxIntercept.ts
+++ b/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/fluxIntercept.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import { addLogEntry } from "../lib/store";
 import type { FilterOptions } from "../lib/types";
 
 const TAG = "[MessageLogger]";
-const FAKE_DELETE_FLAG = "__msgLoggerDeleted";
 const CLEANUP_FLAG = "__msgLoggerCleanup";
 
 // A busy, high-traffic channel (flooding, spam, price-ticker bots editing the same message
@@ -93,8 +92,18 @@ function hasLoggableContent(message: any): boolean {
     );
 }
 
-function fakeUpdateFor(original: any): any {
-    return { type: "MESSAGE_UPDATE", message: { ...original, [FAKE_DELETE_FLAG]: true } };
+// Any action type other than MESSAGE_DELETE stops the real removal - live-verified that
+// MESSAGE_EDIT_FAILED_AUTOMOD (the same technique meqativ/dumsane's NoDelete uses) is a genuine
+// no-op for a message not already in a pending-edit state: dispatching it left the cached
+// MessageRecord byte-for-byte identical. No need to reconstruct/spread the message into a fake
+// MESSAGE_UPDATE - that also avoids waking every other MESSAGE_UPDATE listener in the app (unread
+// counts, embed refresh, etc.) for something that isn't really an edit.
+function suppressionEventFor(original: any): any {
+    return {
+        type: "MESSAGE_EDIT_FAILED_AUTOMOD",
+        messageData: { type: 0, message: { channelId: original.channel_id, messageId: original.id, content: original.content } },
+        errorResponseBody: { code: 200000, message: "Deleted message kept inline by MessageLogger" },
+    };
 }
 
 function captureAndMaybeKeep(original: any, channelId: string, id: string): any | undefined {
@@ -112,7 +121,7 @@ function captureAndMaybeKeep(original: any, channelId: string, id: string): any
 
     fakedMessages.set(id, channelId);
     evictOldest(fakedMessages, MAX_TRACKED_MESSAGES);
-    return fakeUpdateFor(original);
+    return suppressionEventFor(original);
 }
 
 function handleSingleDelete(event: any): any {
@@ -148,7 +157,7 @@ function handleBulkDelete(event: any): any {
             const original = ChannelMessages?.get?.(channelId)?.get?.(id);
             if (!original) continue;
             try {
-                FluxDispatcher.dispatch(fakeUpdateFor(original));
+                FluxDispatcher.dispatch(suppressionEventFor(original));
             } catch (e: any) {
                 console.error(TAG, "Deferred bulk-keep dispatch failed for", id, e?.message ?? e);
             }
@@ -166,7 +175,6 @@ function handleBulkDelete(event: any): any {
 function handleUpdate(event: any): void {
     const updated = event?.message;
     if (!updated?.id) return;
-    if (updated[FAKE_DELETE_FLAG]) return; // our own fake-delete-as-update, not a real edit
 
     const channelId = updated.channel_id ?? updated.channelId;
     const original = ChannelMessages?.get?.(channelId)?.get?.(updated.id);
diff --git a/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/messageRecord.ts b/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/messageRecord.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c73bb6..0000000
--- a/plugins/message-logger/src/patches/messageRecord.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-import { findByName, findByProps } from "@vendetta/metro";
-import { after, instead } from "@vendetta/patcher";
-
-const TAG = "[MessageLogger]";
-const FAKE_DELETE_FLAG = "__msgLoggerDeleted";
-
-// Discord wraps raw message JSON into a MessageRecord class before it reaches row generation - a
-// plain custom field on the raw object doesn't reliably survive that wrap without this.
-export function patchMessageRecord(cleanups: (() => void)[]): boolean {
-    const MessageRecordUtils = findByProps("updateMessageRecord", "createMessageRecord");
-    const MessageRecord = findByName("MessageRecord", false);
-
-    if (!MessageRecordUtils || !MessageRecord) {
-        console.warn(TAG, "MessageRecord module(s) not found - deleted messages may not render styled");
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    try {
-        cleanups.push(
-            after("createMessageRecord", MessageRecordUtils, ([message]: any[], record: any) => {
-                if (message?.[FAKE_DELETE_FLAG]) record[FAKE_DELETE_FLAG] = true;
-            }),
-        );
-
-        cleanups.push(
-            instead("updateMessageRecord", MessageRecordUtils, ([oldRecord, newRecord]: any[], orig: any) => {
-                if (newRecord?.[FAKE_DELETE_FLAG]) {
-                    return MessageRecordUtils.createMessageRecord(newRecord, oldRecord?.reactions);
-                }
-                return orig.apply(MessageRecordUtils, [oldRecord, newRecord]);
-            }),
-        );
-
-        cleanups.push(
-            after("default", MessageRecord, ([props]: any[], record: any) => {
-                if (props?.[FAKE_DELETE_FLAG]) record[FAKE_DELETE_FLAG] = true;
-            }),
-        );
-    } catch (e: any) {
-        console.warn(TAG, "Failed to patch MessageRecord:", e?.message ?? e);
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    return true;
-}