diff --git a/app/models/user_stat.rb b/app/models/user_stat.rb
index 894a888c1f4..6796d9aad5e 100644
--- a/app/models/user_stat.rb
+++ b/app/models/user_stat.rb
@@ -175,19 +175,23 @@ class UserStat < ActiveRecord::Base
 
     # Update denormalized posts_read_count
     DB.exec(<<~SQL, seen_at: last_seen)
+      WITH filtered_users AS (
+        SELECT id FROM users u
+        JOIN user_stats ON user_id = u.id
+        WHERE last_seen_at > :seen_at
+        AND posts_read_count < 10000
+      )
       UPDATE user_stats SET posts_read_count = X.c
-      FROM
-      (SELECT pt.user_id,
-              COUNT(*) AS c
-       FROM users AS u
-       JOIN post_timings AS pt ON pt.user_id = u.id
-       JOIN topics t ON t.id = pt.topic_id
-       WHERE u.last_seen_at > :seen_at AND
-             t.archetype = 'regular' AND
-             t.deleted_at IS NULL
-       GROUP BY pt.user_id) AS X
-       WHERE X.user_id = user_stats.user_id AND
-             X.c <> posts_read_count
+      FROM (SELECT pt.user_id, COUNT(*) as c
+            FROM filtered_users AS u
+            JOIN post_timings AS pt ON pt.user_id = u.id
+            JOIN topics t ON t.id = pt.topic_id
+            WHERE t.archetype = 'regular'
+            AND t.deleted_at IS NULL
+            GROUP BY pt.user_id
+           ) AS X
+      WHERE X.user_id = user_stats.user_id
+      AND X.c <> posts_read_count
     SQL
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/models/user_stat_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_stat_spec.rb
index c879d301031..8827061dd25 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_stat_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_stat_spec.rb
@@ -27,19 +27,18 @@ RSpec.describe UserStat do
         fab!(:topic) { Fabricate(:topic) }
         let!(:view) { TopicViewItem.add(topic.id, "127.0.0.1", user.id) }
 
-        before { user.update_column :last_seen_at, 1.second.ago }
+        before do
+          user.update_column :last_seen_at, 1.second.ago
+          stat.update_column :topics_entered, 0
+        end
 
         it "adds one to the topics entered" do
-          UserStat.update_view_counts
-          stat.reload
-          expect(stat.topics_entered).to eq(1)
+          expect { UserStat.update_view_counts }.to change { stat.reload.topics_entered }.to 1
         end
 
         it "won't record a second view as a different topic" do
           TopicViewItem.add(topic.id, "127.0.0.1", user.id)
-          UserStat.update_view_counts
-          stat.reload
-          expect(stat.topics_entered).to eq(1)
+          expect { UserStat.update_view_counts }.to change { stat.reload.topics_entered }.to 1
         end
       end
     end
@@ -65,12 +64,13 @@ RSpec.describe UserStat do
           )
         end
 
-        before { user.update_column :last_seen_at, 1.second.ago }
+        before do
+          user.update_column :last_seen_at, 1.second.ago
+          stat.update_column :posts_read_count, 0
+        end
 
         it "increases posts_read_count" do
-          UserStat.update_view_counts
-          stat.reload
-          expect(stat.posts_read_count).to eq(1)
+          expect { UserStat.update_view_counts }.to change { stat.reload.posts_read_count }.to 1
         end
       end
     end