diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index f497ca9b52c..fa3ade92609 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -912,8 +912,14 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
     post_mover = PostMover.new(self, moved_by, post_ids)
 
     if opts[:destination_topic_id]
-      post_mover.to_topic opts[:destination_topic_id]
-      DiscourseEvent.trigger(:topic_merged,  post_mover.original_topic, post_mover.destination_topic)
+      topic = post_mover.to_topic(opts[:destination_topic_id])
+
+      DiscourseEvent.trigger(:topic_merged,
+        post_mover.original_topic,
+        post_mover.destination_topic
+      )
+
+      topic
     elsif opts[:title]
       post_mover.to_new_topic(opts[:title], opts[:category_id], opts[:tags])
     end
diff --git a/spec/requests/topics_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/topics_controller_spec.rb
index 205353adad7..cf08b4f1a47 100644
--- a/spec/requests/topics_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/topics_controller_spec.rb
@@ -201,11 +201,11 @@ RSpec.describe TopicsController do
           expect(result['success']).to eq(true)
           expect(result['url']).to be_present
         end
-        
+
         it "triggers an event on merge" do
           DiscourseEvent.on(:topic_merged) do |original_topic, destination_topic|
-            expect(original_topic.id).to eq(topic.id)
-            expect(destination_topic.id).to eq(dest_topic.id)
+            expect(original_topic).to eq(topic)
+            expect(destination_topic).to eq(dest_topic)
           end
         end
       end