diff --git a/go/vumitools/middleware.py b/go/vumitools/middleware.py
index f575dda54..676dd279b 100644
--- a/go/vumitools/middleware.py
+++ b/go/vumitools/middleware.py
@@ -267,9 +267,8 @@ def key(self, transport_name, message_id):
 
     def set_inbound_timestamp(self, transport_name, message):
         key = self.key(transport_name, message['message_id'])
-        d = self.redis.set(key, repr(time.time()))
-        d.addCallback(lambda _: self.redis.expire(key, self.max_lifetime))
-        return d
+        return self.redis.setex(
+            key, self.max_lifetime, repr(time.time()))
 
     @inlineCallbacks
     def get_outbound_timestamp(self, transport_name, message):
diff --git a/go/vumitools/tests/test_middleware.py b/go/vumitools/tests/test_middleware.py
index d217f2d25..f080d6f85 100644
--- a/go/vumitools/tests/test_middleware.py
+++ b/go/vumitools/tests/test_middleware.py
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ def test_expiry(self):
         yield mw.handle_inbound(msg1, 'dummy_endpoint')
         key = mw.key('dummy_endpoint', msg1['message_id'])
         ttl = yield mw.redis.ttl(key)
-        self.assertTrue(0 < ttl < 60)
+        self.assertTrue(0 < ttl < 10)
 
 
 class ConversationStoringMiddlewareTestCase(MiddlewareTestCase):