diff --git a/irc/history/database.go b/irc/history/database.go
index 277d2c39..3a72ae48 100644
--- a/irc/history/database.go
+++ b/irc/history/database.go
@@ -122,5 +122,5 @@ func (n noopSequence) Cutoff() time.Time {
 }
 
 func (n noopSequence) Ephemeral() bool {
-	return true
+	return false // we're pretending to be an empty database
 }