diff --git a/mistral/db/v2/sqlalchemy/api.py b/mistral/db/v2/sqlalchemy/api.py
index dddf7bb01..1b5435ce1 100644
--- a/mistral/db/v2/sqlalchemy/api.py
+++ b/mistral/db/v2/sqlalchemy/api.py
@@ -1147,6 +1147,7 @@ def get_expired_executions(expiration_time, limit=None, columns=(),
 @b.session_aware()
 def get_running_expired_sync_actions(expiration_time, session=None):
     query = b.model_query(models.ActionExecution)
+
     query = query.filter(
         models.ActionExecution.last_heartbeat < expiration_time
     )
diff --git a/mistral/engine/dispatcher.py b/mistral/engine/dispatcher.py
index 4099f9db0..c4d18e031 100644
--- a/mistral/engine/dispatcher.py
+++ b/mistral/engine/dispatcher.py
@@ -98,11 +98,20 @@ def _save_command_to_backlog(wf_ex, cmd):
 
 
 def _poll_commands_from_backlog(wf_ex):
-    backlog_cmds = wf_ex.runtime_context.pop(BACKLOG_KEY, [])
-
-    if not backlog_cmds:
+    # NOTE: We need to always use a guard condition that checks
+    # if a persistent structure is empty and, as in this case,
+    # return immediately w/o doing any further manipulations.
+    # Otherwise, if we do pop() operation with a default value
+    # then the ORM framework will consider it a modification of
+    # the persistent object and generate a corresponding SQL
+    # UPDATE operation. In this particular case it will increase
+    # contention for workflow executions table drastically and
+    # decrease performance.
+    if not wf_ex.runtime_context.get(BACKLOG_KEY):
         return []
 
+    backlog_cmds = wf_ex.runtime_context.pop(BACKLOG_KEY)
+
     return [
         commands.restore_command_from_dict(wf_ex, cmd_dict)
         for cmd_dict in backlog_cmds
diff --git a/mistral/services/action_execution_checker.py b/mistral/services/action_execution_checker.py
index 2b69299cd..3cf4fcbf8 100644
--- a/mistral/services/action_execution_checker.py
+++ b/mistral/services/action_execution_checker.py
@@ -34,25 +34,32 @@ SCHEDULER_KEY = 'handle_expired_actions_key'
 def handle_expired_actions():
     LOG.debug("Running heartbeat checker...")
 
-    try:
-        interval = CONF.action_heartbeat.check_interval
-        max_missed = CONF.action_heartbeat.max_missed_heartbeats
-        exp_date = utils.utc_now_sec() - datetime.timedelta(
-            seconds=max_missed * interval
-        )
+    interval = CONF.action_heartbeat.check_interval
+    max_missed = CONF.action_heartbeat.max_missed_heartbeats
 
+    exp_date = utils.utc_now_sec() - datetime.timedelta(
+        seconds=max_missed * interval
+    )
+
+    try:
         with db_api.transaction():
             action_exs = db_api.get_running_expired_sync_actions(exp_date)
+
             LOG.debug("Found {} running and expired actions.".format(
                 len(action_exs))
             )
+
             if action_exs:
-                LOG.info("Actions executions to transit to error, because "
-                         "heartbeat wasn't received: {}".format(action_exs))
+                LOG.info(
+                    "Actions executions to transit to error, because "
+                    "heartbeat wasn't received: {}".format(action_exs)
+                )
+
                 for action_ex in action_exs:
                     result = mistral_lib.Result(
                         error="Heartbeat wasn't received."
                     )
+
                     action_handler.on_action_complete(action_ex, result)
     finally:
         schedule(interval)
@@ -62,14 +69,19 @@ def setup():
     interval = CONF.action_heartbeat.check_interval
     max_missed = CONF.action_heartbeat.max_missed_heartbeats
     enabled = interval and max_missed
+
     if not enabled:
         LOG.info("Action heartbeat reporting disabled.")
+
         return
 
     wait_time = interval * max_missed
-    LOG.debug("First run of action execution checker, wait before "
-              "checking to make sure executors have time to send "
-              "heartbeats. ({} seconds)".format(wait_time))
+
+    LOG.debug(
+        "First run of action execution checker, wait before "
+        "checking to make sure executors have time to send "
+        "heartbeats. ({} seconds)".format(wait_time)
+    )
 
     schedule(wait_time)
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/remove_unnecessary_workflow_execution_update-bdc9526bd39539c4.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/remove_unnecessary_workflow_execution_update-bdc9526bd39539c4.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d51e49d0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/remove_unnecessary_workflow_execution_update-bdc9526bd39539c4.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    Eliminated an unnecessary update of the workflow execution object
+    when processing "on_action_complete" operation. W/o this fix all
+    such transactions would have to compete for the workflow executions
+    table that causes lots of DB deadlocks (on MySQL) and transaction
+    retries. In some cases the number of retries even exceeds the limit
+    (currently hardcoded 50) and such tasks can be fixed only with the
+    integrity checker over time.