diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/AutoDeletePlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/AutoDeletePlugin.ts
index ed8aa590..f596cf0e 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/AutoDeletePlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/AutoDeletePlugin.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { onMessageCreate } from "./util/onMessageCreate";
 import { onMessageDelete } from "./util/onMessageDelete";
 import { onMessageDeleteBulk } from "./util/onMessageDeleteBulk";
 import { TimeAndDatePlugin } from "../TimeAndDate/TimeAndDatePlugin";
+import { LogsPlugin } from "../Logs/LogsPlugin";
 
 const defaultOptions: PluginOptions<AutoDeletePluginType> = {
   config: {
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ export const AutoDeletePlugin = zeppelinGuildPlugin<AutoDeletePluginType>()("aut
     configurationGuide: "Maximum deletion delay is currently 5 minutes",
   },
 
-  dependencies: [TimeAndDatePlugin],
+  dependencies: [TimeAndDatePlugin, LogsPlugin],
   configSchema: ConfigSchema,
   defaultOptions,
 
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/util/deleteNextItem.ts b/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/util/deleteNextItem.ts
index 5bd7a790..e2f550b0 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/util/deleteNextItem.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/AutoDelete/util/deleteNextItem.ts
@@ -2,24 +2,51 @@ import { GuildPluginData } from "knub";
 import { AutoDeletePluginType } from "../types";
 import moment from "moment-timezone";
 import { LogType } from "../../../data/LogType";
-import { stripObjectToScalars, resolveUser } from "../../../utils";
+import { resolveUser, stripObjectToScalars, verboseChannelMention } from "../../../utils";
 import { logger } from "../../../logger";
 import { scheduleNextDeletion } from "./scheduleNextDeletion";
 import { TimeAndDatePlugin } from "../../TimeAndDate/TimeAndDatePlugin";
+import { hasDiscordPermissions } from "../../../utils/hasDiscordPermissions";
+import { Constants } from "eris";
+import { LogsPlugin } from "../../Logs/LogsPlugin";
 
 export async function deleteNextItem(pluginData: GuildPluginData<AutoDeletePluginType>) {
   const [itemToDelete] = pluginData.state.deletionQueue.splice(0, 1);
   if (!itemToDelete) return;
 
+  scheduleNextDeletion(pluginData);
+
+  const channel = pluginData.guild.channels.get(itemToDelete.message.channel_id);
+  if (!channel) {
+    // Channel was deleted, ignore
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const logs = pluginData.getPlugin(LogsPlugin);
+  const perms = channel.permissionsOf(pluginData.client.user.id);
+
+  if (!hasDiscordPermissions(perms, Constants.Permissions.readMessages | Constants.Permissions.readMessageHistory)) {
+    logs.log(LogType.BOT_ALERT, {
+      body: `Missing permissions to read messages or message history in auto-delete channel ${verboseChannelMention(
+        channel,
+      )}`,
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (!hasDiscordPermissions(perms, Constants.Permissions.manageMessages)) {
+    logs.log(LogType.BOT_ALERT, {
+      body: `Missing permissions to delete messages in auto-delete channel ${verboseChannelMention(channel)}`,
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
   const timeAndDate = pluginData.getPlugin(TimeAndDatePlugin);
 
   pluginData.state.guildLogs.ignoreLog(LogType.MESSAGE_DELETE, itemToDelete.message.id);
   pluginData.client.deleteMessage(itemToDelete.message.channel_id, itemToDelete.message.id).catch(logger.warn);
 
-  scheduleNextDeletion(pluginData);
-
   const user = await resolveUser(pluginData.client, itemToDelete.message.user_id);
-  const channel = pluginData.guild.channels.get(itemToDelete.message.channel_id);
   const messageDate = timeAndDate
     .inGuildTz(moment.utc(itemToDelete.message.data.timestamp, "x"))
     .format(timeAndDate.getDateFormat("pretty_datetime"));