diff --git a/notifications.cron.inc b/notifications.cron.inc
index 2461cb4..f37b0f2 100644
--- a/notifications.cron.inc
+++ b/notifications.cron.inc
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ function notifications_event_tracker($op, $event = NULL) {
  */
 function notifications_update_sent($account, $method, $interval, $time) {
   db_query("UPDATE {notifications_sent} SET sent = %d WHERE uid = %d AND send_interval = '%d' AND send_method = '%s'", $time, $account->uid, $interval, $method);
-  if (!db_affected_rows()) {
+  if (!db_query("SELECT 1 FROM {notifications_sent} WHERE uid = %d AND send_interval = '%d' AND send_method = '%s'", $time, $account->uid, $interval, $method)) {
     db_query("INSERT INTO {notifications_sent}(uid, send_interval, send_method, sent) VALUES(%d, '%d', '%s', %d)", $account->uid, $interval, $method, $time);
   }
 }