diff --git a/test/api/unit/models/user.test.js b/test/api/unit/models/user.test.js
index b637b84753..0501e3ed81 100644
--- a/test/api/unit/models/user.test.js
+++ b/test/api/unit/models/user.test.js
@@ -195,17 +195,23 @@ describe('User Model', () => {
       expect(userToJSON.notifications[0].seen).to.eql(false);
     });
 
-    it('removes invalid notifications when calling toJSON', () => {
-      const user = new User();
+    it('removes invalid notifications when loading the user', async () => {
+      let user = new User();
+      await user.save();
+      await user.update({
+        $set: {
+          notifications: [
+            null, // invalid, not an object
+            { seen: true }, // invalid, no type or id
+            { id: 123 }, // invalid, no type
+            // invalid, no id, not included here because the id would be added automatically
+            // {type: 'ABC'},
+            { type: 'ABC', id: '123' }, // valid
+          ],
+        },
+      }).exec();
 
-      user.notifications = [
-        null, // invalid, not an object
-        { seen: true }, // invalid, no type or id
-        { id: 123 }, // invalid, no type
-        // invalid, no id, not included here because the id would be added automatically
-        // {type: 'ABC'},
-        { type: 'ABC', id: '123' }, // valid
-      ];
+      user = await User.findById(user._id).exec();
 
       const userToJSON = user.toJSON();
       expect(userToJSON.notifications.length).to.equal(1);
@@ -215,26 +221,6 @@ describe('User Model', () => {
       expect(userToJSON.notifications[0].id).to.equal('123');
     });
 
-    it('removes invalid notifications when saving', async () => {
-      const user = new User();
-
-      user.notifications = [
-        null, // invalid, not an object
-        { seen: true }, // invalid, no type or id
-        { id: 123 }, // invalid, no type
-        // invalid, no id, not included here because the id would be added automatically
-        // {type: 'ABC'},
-        { type: 'ABC', id: '123' }, // valid
-      ];
-
-      await user.save();
-      expect(user.notifications.length).to.equal(1);
-
-      expect(user.notifications[0]).to.have.all.keys(['data', 'id', 'type', 'seen']);
-      expect(user.notifications[0].type).to.equal('ABC');
-      expect(user.notifications[0].id).to.equal('123');
-    });
-
     it('can add notifications with data and already marked as seen', () => {
       const user = new User();
 
diff --git a/test/api/unit/models/userNotification.test.js b/test/api/unit/models/userNotification.test.js
index c52a44bd21..e9fb8f8c10 100644
--- a/test/api/unit/models/userNotification.test.js
+++ b/test/api/unit/models/userNotification.test.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { model as UserNotification } from '../../../../website/server/models/userNotification';
 
 describe('UserNotification Model', () => {
-  context('convertNotificationsToSafeJson', () => {
+  context('cleanupCorruptData', () => {
     it('converts an array of notifications to a safe version', () => {
       const notifications = [
         null, // invalid, not an object
@@ -11,11 +11,12 @@ describe('UserNotification Model', () => {
         new UserNotification({ type: 'ABC', id: 123 }), // valid
       ];
 
-      const notificationsToJSON = UserNotification.convertNotificationsToSafeJson(notifications);
-      expect(notificationsToJSON.length).to.equal(1);
-      expect(notificationsToJSON[0]).to.have.all.keys(['data', 'id', 'type', 'seen']);
-      expect(notificationsToJSON[0].type).to.equal('ABC');
-      expect(notificationsToJSON[0].id).to.equal('123');
+      const safeNotifications = UserNotification.cleanupCorruptData(notifications);
+      expect(safeNotifications.length).to.equal(1);
+      expect(safeNotifications[0].data).to.deep.equal({});
+      expect(safeNotifications[0].seen).to.equal(false);
+      expect(safeNotifications[0].type).to.equal('ABC');
+      expect(safeNotifications[0].id).to.equal('123');
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/website/server/models/userNotification.js b/website/server/models/userNotification.js
index 63b550bf15..b5c6561ed9 100644
--- a/website/server/models/userNotification.js
+++ b/website/server/models/userNotification.js
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ export const schema = new Schema({
  * Called by user's post init hook (models/user/hooks.js)
  */
 schema.statics.cleanupCorruptData = function cleanupCorruptNotificationsData (notifications) {
+  console.log('fixing stuff', notifications);
   if (!notifications) return notifications;
 
   let filteredNotifications = notifications.filter(notification => {