diff --git a/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/main/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepository.java b/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/main/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepository.java
index 366a784fe4..ad3b207fc6 100644
--- a/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/main/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepository.java
+++ b/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/main/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepository.java
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ public interface UserRepository extends JpaRepository<User, Integer> , UserRepos
     void deactivateUsersNotLoggedInSince(@Param("date") LocalDate date);
 
     @Modifying(clearAutomatically = true, flushAutomatically = true)
-    @Query("delete User u where u.active = false")
-    void deleteDeactivatedUsers();
+    @Query("delete from User u where u.active = false")
+    int deleteDeactivatedUsers();
 
     @Modifying(clearAutomatically = true, flushAutomatically = true)
     @Query(value = "alter table USERS.USERS add column deleted int(1) not null default 0", nativeQuery = true)
diff --git a/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/test/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepositoryIntegrationTest.java b/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/test/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepositoryIntegrationTest.java
index d57b5d16d0..14c2b0eb46 100644
--- a/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/test/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepositoryIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/persistence-modules/spring-data-jpa/src/test/java/com/baeldung/dao/repositories/user/UserRepositoryIntegrationTest.java
@@ -501,11 +501,12 @@ public class UserRepositoryIntegrationTest {
         userRepository.save(usr01);
         userRepository.save(usr02);
 
-        userRepository.deleteDeactivatedUsers();
+        int deletedUsersCount = userRepository.deleteDeactivatedUsers();
 
         List<User> users = userRepository.findAll();
         assertEquals(1, users.size());
         assertEquals(usr01, users.get(0));
+        assertEquals(1, deletedUsersCount);
     }
 
     @Test