diff --git a/protocol/activity_center.go b/protocol/activity_center.go
index cc98858ef..001eda50b 100644
--- a/protocol/activity_center.go
+++ b/protocol/activity_center.go
@@ -76,6 +76,16 @@ type ActivityCenterNotification struct {
 	AlbumMessages []*common.Message `json:"albumMessages"`
 }
 
+func (n *ActivityCenterNotification) IncrementUpdatedAt(timesource common.TimeSource) {
+	tNow := timesource.GetCurrentTime()
+	// If updatead at is greater or equal than time now, we bump it
+	if n.UpdatedAt >= tNow {
+		n.UpdatedAt++
+	} else {
+		n.UpdatedAt = tNow
+	}
+}
+
 type ActivityCenterNotificationsRequest struct {
 	Cursor        string                        `json:"cursor"`
 	Limit         uint64                        `json:"limit"`
diff --git a/protocol/communities_messenger_test.go b/protocol/communities_messenger_test.go
index 2cf0515ad..2932cae4c 100644
--- a/protocol/communities_messenger_test.go
+++ b/protocol/communities_messenger_test.go
@@ -1053,25 +1053,26 @@ func (s *MessengerCommunitiesSuite) TestDeletePendingRequestAccess() {
 	s.Require().NotNil(response)
 	s.Require().Len(response.RequestsToJoinCommunity, 1)
 
+	aliceRequestToJoin := response.RequestsToJoinCommunity[0]
+
 	// Retrieve request to join and Check activity center notification for Bob
 	err = tt.RetryWithBackOff(func() error {
 		response, err = bobRetrieveAll()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		// NOTE: we might receive multiple requests to join in case of re-transmissions
+		// because request to join are hard deleted from the database, we can't check
+		// whether that's an old one or a new one. So here we test for the specific id
 
-		if len(response.RequestsToJoinCommunity) == 0 {
-			return errors.New("request to join community not received")
+		for _, r := range response.RequestsToJoinCommunity {
+			if bytes.Equal(r.ID, aliceRequestToJoin.ID) {
+				return nil
+			}
 		}
-
-		if len(response.ActivityCenterNotifications()) == 0 {
-			return errors.New("request to join community notification not added in activity center")
-		}
-
-		return nil
+		return errors.New("request to join not found")
 	})
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
-	s.Require().Len(response.RequestsToJoinCommunity, 1)
 
 	// Check activity center notification for Bob
 	notifications, err = fetchActivityCenterNotificationsForAdmin()
diff --git a/protocol/messenger_communities.go b/protocol/messenger_communities.go
index c826ca0fe..646f95318 100644
--- a/protocol/messenger_communities.go
+++ b/protocol/messenger_communities.go
@@ -1530,8 +1530,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) CancelRequestToJoinCommunity(ctx context.Context, request *r
 	}
 
 	if notification != nil {
-		updatedAt := m.GetCurrentTimeInMillis()
-		notification.UpdatedAt = updatedAt
+		notification.IncrementUpdatedAt(m.getTimesource())
 		err = m.persistence.DeleteActivityCenterNotificationByID(types.FromHex(requestToJoin.ID.String()), notification.UpdatedAt)
 		if err != nil {
 			m.logger.Error("failed to delete notification from Activity Center", zap.Error(err))
@@ -1540,7 +1539,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) CancelRequestToJoinCommunity(ctx context.Context, request *r
 
 		// set notification as deleted, so that the client will remove the activity center notification from UI
 		notification.Deleted = true
-		err = m.syncActivityCenterDeletedByIDs(ctx, []types.HexBytes{notification.ID}, updatedAt)
+		err = m.syncActivityCenterDeletedByIDs(ctx, []types.HexBytes{notification.ID}, notification.UpdatedAt)
 		if err != nil {
 			m.logger.Error("CancelRequestToJoinCommunity, failed to sync activity center notification as deleted", zap.Error(err))
 			return nil, err
@@ -1631,7 +1630,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) acceptRequestToJoinCommunity(requestToJoin *communities.Requ
 		}
 		notification.Read = true
 		notification.Accepted = true
-		notification.UpdatedAt = m.GetCurrentTimeInMillis()
+		notification.IncrementUpdatedAt(m.getTimesource())
 
 		err = m.addActivityCenterNotification(response, notification, m.syncActivityCenterCommunityRequestDecisionAdapter)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -1715,7 +1714,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) declineRequestToJoinCommunity(requestToJoin *communities.Req
 		}
 		notification.Read = true
 		notification.Dismissed = true
-		notification.UpdatedAt = m.GetCurrentTimeInMillis()
+		notification.IncrementUpdatedAt(m.getTimesource())
 
 		err = m.addActivityCenterNotification(response, notification, m.syncActivityCenterCommunityRequestDecisionAdapter)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -1898,7 +1897,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) CheckAndDeletePendingRequestToJoinCommunity(ctx context.Cont
 					notification.MembershipStatus = ActivityCenterMembershipStatusIdle
 					notification.Read = false
 					notification.Deleted = false
-					notification.UpdatedAt = m.GetCurrentTimeInMillis()
+					notification.IncrementUpdatedAt(m.getTimesource())
 					err = m.addActivityCenterNotification(response, notification, m.syncActivityCenterUnreadByIDs)
 					if err != nil {
 						m.logger.Error("failed to update notification in activity center", zap.Error(err))
@@ -3019,7 +3018,7 @@ func (m *Messenger) handleCommunityResponse(state *ReceivedMessageState, communi
 
 			notification.Read = true
 			notification.Accepted = true
-			notification.UpdatedAt = m.GetCurrentTimeInMillis()
+			notification.IncrementUpdatedAt(m.getTimesource())
 
 			err = m.addActivityCenterNotification(state.Response, notification, nil)
 			if err != nil {