module Catalog class Menu < ActiveRecord::Base acts_as_tree dependent: :destroy end end 

2.2.1 :002 > Catalog::Menu.find(4).destroy Catalog::Menu Load (0.4ms) SELECT `catalog_menus`.* FROM `catalog_menus` WHERE `catalog_menus`.`id` = 4 LIMIT 1 (0.2ms) BEGIN (0.3ms) SELECT GET_LOCK('ClosureTree::Catalog::Menu', 0) AS t457e5acb1b089fcf2c797b4a5f36d844 (12.3ms) DELETE FROM `catalog_menu_hierarchies` WHERE descendant_id IN ( SELECT DISTINCT descendant_id FROM (SELECT descendant_id FROM `catalog_menu_hierarchies` WHERE ancestor_id = 4 OR descendant_id = 4 ) AS x ) (0.3ms) SELECT RELEASE_LOCK('ClosureTree::Catalog::Menu') AS t5d47f4adccd01cbd21808d1b3cb19864 (5.3ms) ROLLBACK ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid: Mysql2::Error: You can't specify target table 'catalog_menu_hierarchies' for update in FROM clause: DELETE FROM `catalog_menu_hierarchies` WHERE descendant_id IN ( SELECT DISTINCT descendant_id FROM (SELECT descendant_id FROM `catalog_menu_hierarchies` WHERE ancestor_id = 4 OR descendant_id = 4 ) AS x )