diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/messages_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/messages_controller.rb
index 6b12d2082..7dfe60f52 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/messages_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/messages_controller.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ module Api
 
       def index
         conversation = conversation_service.find!(params.require(:conversation_id))
-        conversation.set_read(current_user)
         messages_page = index_pager(conversation.messages).response
         messages_page[:data] = messages_page[:data].map {|x| message_json(x) }
         render_paged_api_response messages_page
diff --git a/spec/integration/api/messages_controller_spec.rb b/spec/integration/api/messages_controller_spec.rb
index bc7528a07..2cbcf38b8 100644
--- a/spec/integration/api/messages_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/api/messages_controller_spec.rb
@@ -116,6 +116,10 @@ describe Api::V1::MessagesController do
     before do
       post api_v1_conversations_path, params: @conversation
       @conversation_guid = JSON.parse(response.body)["guid"]
+      Conversation.find_by(guid: @conversation_guid)
+                  .conversation_visibilities
+                  .where(person: auth.user.person)
+                  .update(unread: true)
     end
 
     context "retrieving messages" do
@@ -132,7 +136,7 @@ describe Api::V1::MessagesController do
 
         confirm_message_format(messages[0], "first message", auth.user)
         conversation = get_conversation(@conversation_guid)
-        expect(conversation[:read]).to be_truthy
+        expect(conversation[:read]).to be_falsy
       end
 
       context "improper credentials" do