diff --git a/doc/RELEASE-NOTES.md b/doc/RELEASE-NOTES.md
index 66072788d..682b8aab8 100644
--- a/doc/RELEASE-NOTES.md
+++ b/doc/RELEASE-NOTES.md
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ in progress and may not always be a stable version.
 * TODO
 
 ### Fixes:
+* The whowasdb module caused `WHOWAS` entries to vanish (way too soon)
 * If your shell account only allowed very few file descriptors (eg: `ulimit -n`
   returned `150`), then UnrealIRCd would fail to boot. This, because due to
   reserved file descriptors you would have 0 left, or even a negative number.
diff --git a/include/h.h b/include/h.h
index b876a2c29..1b75dea19 100644
--- a/include/h.h
+++ b/include/h.h
@@ -445,6 +445,7 @@ extern void del_whowas_from_list(WhoWas **, WhoWas *);
 extern uint64_t hash_whowas_name(const char *name);
 extern void create_whowas_entry(Client *client, WhoWas *e, WhoWasEvent event);
 extern void free_whowas_fields(WhoWas *e);
+extern void free_whowas_entry(WhoWas *e);
 extern int add_to_client_hash_table(const char *, Client *);
 extern int del_from_client_hash_table(const char *, Client *);
 extern int add_to_id_hash_table(const char *, Client *);
diff --git a/src/modules/whowasdb.c b/src/modules/whowasdb.c
index 8b4e8ddf9..cd0fe2100 100644
--- a/src/modules/whowasdb.c
+++ b/src/modules/whowasdb.c
@@ -588,9 +588,12 @@ int read_whowasdb(void)
 
 		if (nick && username && hostname && realname)
 		{
+			/* This is basically duplicating the code from create_whowas_entry() in src/whowas.c.
+			 * But we have no choice, as we can't use that function since we don't have a Client *.
+			 */
 			WhoWas *e = &WHOWAS[whowas_next];
 			if (e->hashv != -1)
-				free_whowas_fields(e);
+				free_whowas_entry(e);
 			/* Set values */
 			//unreal_log(ULOG_DEBUG, "whowasdb", "WHOWASDB_READ_RECORD", NULL,
 			//           "[whowasdb] Adding '$nick'...",
diff --git a/src/whowas.c b/src/whowas.c
index 6890c1edd..1b859d9b1 100644
--- a/src/whowas.c
+++ b/src/whowas.c
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ WhoWas MODVAR *WHOWASHASH[WHOWAS_HASH_TABLE_SIZE];
 
 MODVAR int whowas_next = 0;
 
+/** Free all the fields previously created by create_whowas_entry().
+ * NOTE: normally you want to call free_whowas_entry().
+ * Calling this free_whowas_fields() function is unusual and mainly
+ * for whowasdb which temporarily adds and removes entries.
+ */
 void free_whowas_fields(WhoWas *e)
 {
 	safe_free(e->name);
@@ -47,12 +52,17 @@ void free_whowas_fields(WhoWas *e)
 	e->logon = 0;
 	e->logoff = 0;
 	e->connected_since = 0;
+	e->hashv = -1;
+}
 
-	/* Remove from lists and reset hashv */
+/** Free whowas entry. This is the function you normally want to use. */
+void free_whowas_entry(WhoWas *e)
+{
+	int hashv = e->hashv;
+	free_whowas_fields(e);
 	if (e->online)
 		del_whowas_from_clist(&(e->online->user->whowas), e);
-	del_whowas_from_list(&WHOWASHASH[e->hashv], e);
-	e->hashv = -1;
+	del_whowas_from_list(&WHOWASHASH[hashv], e);
 }
 
 void create_whowas_entry(Client *client, WhoWas *e, WhoWasEvent event)
@@ -90,7 +100,7 @@ void add_history(Client *client, int online, WhoWasEvent event)
 	new = &WHOWAS[whowas_next];
 
 	if (new->hashv != -1)
-		free_whowas_fields(new);
+		free_whowas_entry(new);
 
 	create_whowas_entry(client, new, event);