diff --git a/src/queryCache.js b/src/queryCache.js
index fa2c69d123..97597549cd 100644
--- a/src/queryCache.js
+++ b/src/queryCache.js
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ export function makeQueryCache() {
     const foundQueries = findQueries(predicate, { exact })
 
     foundQueries.forEach(query => {
+      clearTimeout(query.staleTimeout)
       delete cache.queries[query.queryHash]
     })
 
@@ -230,9 +231,7 @@ export function makeQueryCache() {
         return
       }
       query.staleTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
-        if (query) {
-          dispatch({ type: actionMarkStale })
-        }
+        dispatch({ type: actionMarkStale })
       }, query.config.staleTime)
     }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/queryCache.test.js b/src/tests/queryCache.test.js
index 065fb1b9f0..03d1577aab 100644
--- a/src/tests/queryCache.test.js
+++ b/src/tests/queryCache.test.js
@@ -108,4 +108,15 @@ describe('queryCache', () => {
     const data = queries.map(query => query.state.data)
     expect(data).toEqual(['data1', 'data2'])
   })
+
+  test('stale timeout dispatch is not called if query is no longer in the query cache', async () => {
+    const queryKey = 'key'
+    const fetchData = () => Promise.resolve('data')
+    await queryCache.prefetchQuery(queryKey, fetchData)
+    const query = queryCache.getQuery(queryKey)
+    expect(query.state.isStale).toBe(false)
+    queryCache.removeQueries(queryKey)
+    await sleep(50)
+    expect(query.state.isStale).toBe(false)
+  })
 })