diff --git a/services/notifications/app/coffee/Notifications.coffee b/services/notifications/app/coffee/Notifications.coffee
index 1f0e1b8237..a9053734b9 100644
--- a/services/notifications/app/coffee/Notifications.coffee
+++ b/services/notifications/app/coffee/Notifications.coffee
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ module.exports =
 					key: notification.key
 					messageOpts: notification.messageOpts
 					templateKey: notification.templateKey
-					expires: notification.expires || false
 				# ttl index on `expiresFrom` field
 				# in Mongo, TTL indexes only work on date fields,
 				# and ignore the document when that field is missing
-				if doc.expires
+				if notification.expires?
+					doc.expires = notification.expires
 					doc.expiresFrom = new Date()
 				db.notifications.insert(doc, callback)
 
diff --git a/services/notifications/test/unit/coffee/NotificationsTests.coffee b/services/notifications/test/unit/coffee/NotificationsTests.coffee
index e329a9e34c..51215cb697 100644
--- a/services/notifications/test/unit/coffee/NotificationsTests.coffee
+++ b/services/notifications/test/unit/coffee/NotificationsTests.coffee
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ describe 'Notifications Tests', ->
 				key:"notification-key",
 				messageOpts:"some info",
 				templateKey:"template-key",
-				expires: false
 			}
 
 		it 'should insert the notification into the collection', (done)->