diff --git a/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/resources/v1/notify.py b/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/resources/v1/notify.py
index 99c6bd0b..01f01892 100644
--- a/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/resources/v1/notify.py
+++ b/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/resources/v1/notify.py
@@ -34,8 +34,20 @@ def send_notification(body: NotificationRequest):
     """Create and send EMAIL notification endpoint."""
     body.notify_type = Notification.NotificationType.EMAIL
     notification = notify.queue_publish(body)
-
-    return jsonify(notification.json), HTTPStatus.OK
+    # Eagerly build response dict to avoid ObjectDeletedError if the
+    # delivery service processes and deletes the row before we respond.
+    try:
+        response = notification.json
+    except Exception:
+        # Fallback if the notification row was already deleted
+        response = {
+            "id": getattr(notification, "id", None),
+            "recipients": getattr(notification, "recipients", None),
+            "notifyStatus": getattr(notification.status_code, "name", None)
+            if hasattr(notification, "status_code") and notification.status_code
+            else None,
+        }
+    return jsonify(response), HTTPStatus.OK
 
 
 @bp.route("/<string:notification_id>", methods=["GET", "OPTIONS"])
diff --git a/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/services/notify_service.py b/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/services/notify_service.py
index aec6cfa4..940983c9 100644
--- a/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/services/notify_service.py
+++ b/notify-service/notify-api/src/notify_api/services/notify_service.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     NotificationRequest,
     SafeList,
 )
+from notify_api.models.db import db
 from notify_api.services.gcp_queue import GcpQueue, queue
 
 logger = StructuredLogging.get_logger()
@@ -368,6 +369,11 @@ def _process_single_recipient(
             # Update notification status
             NotifyService._update_notification_status(notification, provider, Notification.NotificationStatus.QUEUED)
 
+            # Expunge from session so accessing attributes later won't trigger
+            # a lazy-load SELECT (which would fail if the delivery service
+            # already processed and deleted the row).
+            db.session.expunge(notification)
+
             return notification
 
         except Exception as err:
diff --git a/notify-service/notify-api/tests/unit/services/test_notify_service.py b/notify-service/notify-api/tests/unit/services/test_notify_service.py
index 63889712..2e75f204 100644
--- a/notify-service/notify-api/tests/unit/services/test_notify_service.py
+++ b/notify-service/notify-api/tests/unit/services/test_notify_service.py
@@ -383,10 +383,11 @@ def test_queue_publish_exception(app):
             assert result.status_code == Notification.NotificationStatus.FAILURE
 
     @staticmethod
+    @patch("notify_api.services.notify_service.db")
     @patch("notify_api.services.notify_service.queue")
     @patch("notify_api.services.notify_service.GcpQueue")
     @patch("notify_api.services.notify_service.Notification")
-    def test_process_single_recipient_success(mock_notification_class, mock_gcp_queue, mock_queue):
+    def test_process_single_recipient_success(mock_notification_class, mock_gcp_queue, mock_queue, mock_db):
         """Test successful single recipient processing."""
         # Setup mocks
         mock_notification = Mock()
@@ -417,6 +418,7 @@ def test_process_single_recipient_success(mock_notification_class, mock_gcp_queu
             mock_request, "test@example.com", "GC_NOTIFY"
         )
         mock_update_status.assert_called_once()
+        mock_db.session.expunge.assert_called_once_with(mock_notification)
 
     @staticmethod
     @patch("notify_api.services.notify_service.queue")