diff --git a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/BeanProperty.java b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/BeanProperty.java
index 91be1e4d8..780c574e9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/BeanProperty.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebeaninternal/server/deploy/BeanProperty.java
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ public class BeanProperty implements ElPropertyValue, Property {
     if (softDelete) {
       ScalarTypeBoolean.BooleanBase boolType = (ScalarTypeBoolean.BooleanBase) scalarType;
       this.softDeleteDbSet = dbColumn + "=" + boolType.getDbTrueLiteral();
-      this.softDeleteDbPredicate = "." + dbColumn + "," + boolType.getDbFalseLiteral() + ")=" + boolType.getDbFalseLiteral();
+      this.softDeleteDbPredicate = "." + dbColumn + " = " + boolType.getDbFalseLiteral();
     } else {
       this.softDeleteDbSet = null;
       this.softDeleteDbPredicate = null;
@@ -682,8 +682,7 @@ public class BeanProperty implements ElPropertyValue, Property {
    * Return the DB literal predicate used to filter out soft deleted rows from a query.
    */
   public String getSoftDeleteDbPredicate(String tableAlias) {
-    // use coalesce to handle null values from optional relationships
-    return "coalesce(" + tableAlias + softDeleteDbPredicate;
+    return tableAlias + softDeleteDbPredicate;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/query/softdelete/TestSoftDeletePagingList.java b/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/query/softdelete/TestSoftDeletePagingList.java
index 2428bf0dd..6db1ac359 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/query/softdelete/TestSoftDeletePagingList.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/query/softdelete/TestSoftDeletePagingList.java
@@ -43,16 +43,16 @@ public class TestSoftDeletePagingList extends BaseTestCase {
     assertThat(sql).hasSize(2);
     assertThat(sql.get(0)).contains("select count(*) from cover t0 where t0.s3url like");
     if (isPlatformBooleanNative()) {
-      assertThat(sql.get(0)).contains("and coalesce(t0.deleted,false)=false; --bind(SoftDelPaged-%)");
+      assertThat(sql.get(0)).contains("and t0.deleted = false; --bind(SoftDelPaged-%)");
     } else {
-      assertThat(sql.get(0)).contains("and coalesce(t0.deleted,0)=0; --bind(SoftDelPaged-%)");
+      assertThat(sql.get(0)).contains("and t0.deleted = 0; --bind(SoftDelPaged-%)");
     }
 
     assertThat(sql.get(1)).contains("where t0.s3url like ");
     if (isPlatformBooleanNative()) {
-      assertThat(sql.get(1)).contains("and coalesce(t0.deleted,false)=false order by t0.id");
+      assertThat(sql.get(1)).contains("and t0.deleted = false order by t0.id");
     } else {
-      assertThat(sql.get(1)).contains("and coalesce(t0.deleted,0)=0 order by t0.id");
+      assertThat(sql.get(1)).contains("and t0.deleted = 0 order by t0.id");
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/softdelete/TestSoftDeleteBasic.java b/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/softdelete/TestSoftDeleteBasic.java
index 2d4f017a3..0f83b0ab7 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/softdelete/TestSoftDeleteBasic.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/avaje/tests/softdelete/TestSoftDeleteBasic.java
@@ -84,8 +84,7 @@ public class TestSoftDeleteBasic extends BaseTestCase {
 
     List<String> loggedSql = LoggedSqlCollector.stop();
     assertThat(loggedSql).hasSize(1);
-    // usually where coalesce(t0.deleted,false)=false but false is 0 for Oracle etc
-    assertThat(loggedSql.get(0)).contains("where coalesce(t0.deleted,");
+    assertThat(loggedSql.get(0)).contains("where t0.deleted =");
 
     assertThat(rowCountAfter).isEqualTo(rowCountBefore - 1);
 
@@ -182,8 +181,8 @@ public class TestSoftDeleteBasic extends BaseTestCase {
     String generatedSql = query1.getGeneratedSql();
 
     // first statement is a single bulk update of the children with SoftDelete
-    assertThat(generatedSql).contains("coalesce(t0.deleted,");
-    assertThat(generatedSql).contains("coalesce(t1.deleted,");
+    assertThat(generatedSql).contains("t0.deleted = ");
+    assertThat(generatedSql).contains("t1.deleted = ");
     assertThat(fetch1.get(0).getChildren()).hasSize(2);
 
     assertThat(fetch1.get(0).getNosdChildren()).hasSize(2);
@@ -224,13 +223,14 @@ public class TestSoftDeleteBasic extends BaseTestCase {
     String generatedSql = sqlOf(query);
 
     if (isPlatformBooleanNative()) {
-      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("left join ebasic_sdchild t1 on t1.owner_id = t0.id and coalesce(t1.deleted,false)=false");
-      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("coalesce(t0.deleted,false)=false");
+      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("left join ebasic_sdchild t1 on t1.owner_id = t0.id and t1.deleted = false");
+      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("t0.deleted = false");
     } else {
-      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("left join ebasic_sdchild t1 on t1.owner_id = t0.id and coalesce(t1.deleted,0)=0");
-      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("coalesce(t0.deleted,0)=0");
+      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("left join ebasic_sdchild t1 on t1.owner_id = t0.id and t1.deleted = 0");
+      assertThat(generatedSql).contains("t0.deleted = 0");
     }
     assertThat(found).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(found.getChildren()).hasSize(0);
   }
 
   @Test