diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/MainActivity.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/MainActivity.kt
index b27ecc8f2..2c88aed76 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/MainActivity.kt
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ class MainActivity : InjectingAppCompatActivity(), TaskListFragmentCallbackHandl
             onTaskListItemClicked(event.task)
         is MainActivityEvent.RequestRating ->
             playServices.requestReview(this)
+        is MainActivityEvent.ClearTaskEditFragment ->
+            removeTaskEditFragment()
     }
 
     public override fun onActivityResult(requestCode: Int, resultCode: Int, data: Intent?) {
@@ -353,7 +355,6 @@ class MainActivity : InjectingAppCompatActivity(), TaskListFragmentCallbackHandl
             return
         }
         taskEditFragment?.let {
-            it.editViewModel.cleared.removeObservers(this@MainActivity)
             it.save()
         }
         clearUi()
@@ -419,7 +420,7 @@ class MainActivity : InjectingAppCompatActivity(), TaskListFragmentCallbackHandl
     private val isSinglePaneLayout: Boolean
         get() = !resources.getBoolean(R.bool.two_pane_layout)
 
-    fun removeTaskEditFragment() {
+    private fun removeTaskEditFragment() {
         val removeTask = intent.removeTask
         val finishAffinity = intent.finishAffinity
         if (finishAffinity || taskListFragment == null) {
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/TaskEditFragment.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/TaskEditFragment.kt
index c4124462d..230a0584a 100755
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/TaskEditFragment.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/todoroo/astrid/activity/TaskEditFragment.kt
@@ -96,10 +96,6 @@ class TaskEditFragment : Fragment(), Toolbar.OnMenuItemClickListener {
                 args.getParcelableArrayList(EXTRA_ALARMS)!!
             )
         }
-        val activity = requireActivity() as MainActivity
-        editViewModel.cleared.observe(activity) {
-            activity.removeTaskEditFragment()
-        }
     }
 
     override fun onCreateView(
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/MainActivityEvent.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/MainActivityEvent.kt
index 91a7aff20..7f86c11e6 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/MainActivityEvent.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/MainActivityEvent.kt
@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@ typealias MainActivityEventBus = MutableSharedFlow<MainActivityEvent>
 sealed interface MainActivityEvent {
     data class OpenTask(val task: Task) : MainActivityEvent
     object RequestRating : MainActivityEvent
+    object ClearTaskEditFragment : MainActivityEvent
 }
 
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/TaskEditViewModel.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/TaskEditViewModel.kt
index 9d80fe3bc..495d97b39 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/TaskEditViewModel.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/tasks/ui/TaskEditViewModel.kt
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package org.tasks.ui
 
 import android.content.Context
 import androidx.annotation.MainThread
-import androidx.lifecycle.MutableLiveData
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import com.todoroo.andlib.utility.DateUtilities.now
 import com.todoroo.astrid.alarms.AlarmService
@@ -30,7 +29,6 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
 import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
 import net.fortuna.ical4j.model.Recur
-import org.tasks.Event
 import org.tasks.R
 import org.tasks.Strings
 import org.tasks.calendars.CalendarEventProvider
@@ -85,7 +83,7 @@ class TaskEditViewModel @Inject constructor(
         private val mainActivityEvents: MainActivityEventBus,
 ) : ViewModel() {
 
-    val cleared = MutableLiveData<Event<Boolean>>()
+    private var cleared = false
 
     fun setup(
             task: Task,
@@ -320,11 +318,9 @@ class TaskEditViewModel @Inject constructor(
                 } ||
                 originalAlarms.toHashSet() != selectedAlarms.value.toHashSet()
 
-    fun cleared() = cleared.value?.value == true
-
     @MainThread
     suspend fun save() = withContext(NonCancellable) {
-        if (cleared()) {
+        if (cleared) {
             return@withContext
         }
         if (!hasChanges()) {
@@ -479,18 +475,17 @@ class TaskEditViewModel @Inject constructor(
     }
 
     @MainThread
-    fun clear() {
-        if (!cleared()) {
-            cleared.value = Event(true)
+    suspend fun clear() {
+        if (!cleared) {
+            cleared = true
+            mainActivityEvents.emit(MainActivityEvent.ClearTaskEditFragment)
         }
     }
 
     override fun onCleared() {
-        cleared.value.let {
-            if (it == null || !it.value) {
-                runBlocking {
-                    save()
-                }
+        if (!cleared) {
+            runBlocking {
+                save()
             }
         }
     }