diff --git a/src/db/events.ts b/src/db/events.ts
index adb3abc8..b88d38d1 100644
--- a/src/db/events.ts
+++ b/src/db/events.ts
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ function getFilterQuery(filter: DittoFilter): EventQuery {
 
           return exp
             .orderBy('created_at', 'desc')
-            .groupBy('pubkey')
+            .groupBy('events.pubkey')
             .as('authors');
         },
         (join) => join.onRef('authors.pubkey', '=', 'events.pubkey'),
@@ -184,9 +184,13 @@ function getFilterQuery(filter: DittoFilter): EventQuery {
         'authors.tags as author_tags',
         'authors.created_at as author_created_at',
         'authors.sig as author_sig',
-        'authors.author_stats_followers_count',
-        'authors.author_stats_following_count',
-        'authors.author_stats_notes_count',
+        ...(filter.relations?.includes('stats')
+          ? [
+            'authors.author_stats_followers_count',
+            'authors.author_stats_following_count',
+            'authors.author_stats_notes_count',
+          ] as const
+          : []),
       ]);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/stats.ts b/src/stats.ts
index f54b7dea..05e6be35 100644
--- a/src/stats.ts
+++ b/src/stats.ts
@@ -9,19 +9,17 @@ type EventStatDiff = ['event_stats', eventId: string, stat: EventStat, diff: num
 type StatDiff = PubkeyStatDiff | EventStatDiff;
 
 /** Store stats for the event in LMDB. */
-function updateStats(event: Event) {
+async function updateStats(event: Event) {
   const statDiffs = getStatsDiff(event);
   if (!statDiffs.length) return;
 
   const pubkeyDiffs = statDiffs.filter(([table]) => table === 'pubkey_stats') as PubkeyStatDiff[];
   const eventDiffs = statDiffs.filter(([table]) => table === 'event_stats') as EventStatDiff[];
 
-  return db.transaction().execute(() => {
-    return Promise.all([
-      pubkeyStatsQuery(pubkeyDiffs).execute(),
-      eventStatsQuery(eventDiffs).execute(),
-    ]);
-  });
+  await Promise.all([
+    pubkeyDiffs.length ? pubkeyStatsQuery(pubkeyDiffs).execute() : undefined,
+    eventDiffs.length ? eventStatsQuery(eventDiffs).execute() : undefined,
+  ]);
 }
 
 /** Calculate stats changes ahead of time so we can build an efficient query. */