diff --git a/packages/api/src/datalayer/user/index.ts b/packages/api/src/datalayer/user/index.ts
index 95e81000a..a4f6058b2 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/datalayer/user/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/datalayer/user/index.ts
@@ -329,11 +329,15 @@ class UserModel extends DataModel<UserData, CreateSet, UpdateSet> {
   }
 
   @logMethod
-  deleteUser(
+  async delete(
     userId: string,
-    tx: Knex.Transaction
+    tx?: Knex.Transaction
   ): Promise<UserData | { error: DataModelError }> {
-    return super.delete(userId, tx)
+    if (tx) {
+      return super.delete(userId, tx)
+    }
+
+    return this.kx.transaction((tx) => super.delete(userId, tx))
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts b/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts
index 2a1d39641..013cab0d1 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/resolvers/article/index.ts
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ export const createArticleResolver = authorized<
       let uploadFileUrlOverride = ''
       if (uploadFileId) {
         const uploadFileData = await authTrx(async (tx) => {
-          return await models.uploadFile.setFileUploadComplete(uploadFileId, tx)
+          return models.uploadFile.setFileUploadComplete(uploadFileId, tx)
         })
         if (!uploadFileData || !uploadFileData.id || !uploadFileData.fileName) {
           return pageError(
diff --git a/packages/api/src/resolvers/user/index.ts b/packages/api/src/resolvers/user/index.ts
index c39524338..cf57a201a 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/resolvers/user/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/resolvers/user/index.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import { validateUsername } from '../../utils/usernamePolicy'
 import * as jwt from 'jsonwebtoken'
 import { createUser } from '../../services/create_user'
 import { comparePassword, hashPassword } from '../../utils/auth'
-import type { UserData } from '../../datalayer/user/model'
 import { deletePagesByParam } from '../../elastic/pages'
 
 export const updateUserResolver = authorized<
@@ -366,9 +365,8 @@ export const deleteAccountResolver = authorized<
   DeleteAccountSuccess,
   DeleteAccountError,
   MutationDeleteAccountArgs
->(async (_, { userID }, { models, claims, log, authTrx, pubsub }) => {
+>(async (_, { userID }, { models, claims, log, pubsub }) => {
   const user = await models.user.get(userID)
-
   if (!user) {
     return {
       errorCodes: [DeleteAccountErrorCode.UserNotFound],
@@ -381,13 +379,6 @@ export const deleteAccountResolver = authorized<
     }
   }
 
-  const deleteUserResult = await authTrx((tx) =>
-    models.user.deleteUser(claims.uid, tx)
-  )
-
-  // delete this user's pages in elastic
-  await deletePagesByParam({ userId: userID }, { uid: userID, pubsub })
-
   log.info('Deleting a user account', {
     userID,
     labels: {
@@ -397,11 +388,17 @@ export const deleteAccountResolver = authorized<
     },
   })
 
-  if ((deleteUserResult as UserData).id !== undefined) {
-    return { userID }
-  } else {
+  const deletedUser = await models.user.delete(userID)
+  if ('error' in deletedUser) {
+    log.error('Error deleting user account', deletedUser.error)
+
     return {
-      errorCodes: [DeleteAccountErrorCode.Forbidden],
+      errorCodes: [DeleteAccountErrorCode.UserNotFound],
     }
   }
+
+  // delete this user's pages in elastic
+  await deletePagesByParam({ userId: userID }, { uid: userID, pubsub })
+
+  return { userID }
 })
diff --git a/packages/api/test/resolvers/user_delete_account.test.ts b/packages/api/test/resolvers/user_delete_account.test.ts
index 12a2b52a5..6859217ca 100644
--- a/packages/api/test/resolvers/user_delete_account.test.ts
+++ b/packages/api/test/resolvers/user_delete_account.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { createTestUser } from '../db'
+import { createTestUser, deleteTestUser } from '../db'
 import { graphqlRequest, request } from '../util'
 import * as chai from 'chai'
 import { expect } from 'chai'
@@ -13,12 +13,10 @@ const deleteAccountRequest = async (authToken: string, userId: string) => {
   const mutation = `
   mutation {
     deleteAccount(
-      input: {
-        userId: "${userId}",
-      }
+      userID: "${userId}",
     ) {
       ... on DeleteAccountSuccess {
-        userId
+        userID
       }
       ... on DeleteAccountError {
         errorCodes
@@ -30,7 +28,7 @@ const deleteAccountRequest = async (authToken: string, userId: string) => {
 }
 
 describe('the deleteAccount API', () => {
-  const username = 'fakeUser'
+  const username = 'newFakeUser'
   let authToken: string
   let user: User
 
@@ -44,6 +42,10 @@ describe('the deleteAccount API', () => {
     authToken = res.body.authToken
   })
 
+  after(async () => {
+    await deleteTestUser(username)
+  })
+
   context('deleting a user that exists', () => {
     it('should return a unauthorized error if authToken is invalid', async () => {
       const res = await deleteAccountRequest('invalid-auth-token', user.id)
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ describe('the deleteAccount API', () => {
 
     it('should return the user id after a successful user deletion', async () => {
       const res = await deleteAccountRequest(authToken, user.id)
-      expect(res.body.data.deleteAccount.userId).to.eql(user.id)
+      expect(res.body.data.deleteAccount.userID).to.eql(user.id)
     })
   })