--- a/plugins/mod_pep.lua	Thu Aug 16 06:05:11 2018 +0200
+++ b/plugins/mod_pep.lua	Thu Aug 16 14:32:21 2018 +0200
@@ -124,6 +124,9 @@
 local function get_broadcaster(username)
 	local user_bare = jid_join(username, host);
 	local function simple_broadcast(kind, node, jids, item)
+		if kind == "retract" then
+			kind = "items"; -- XEP-0060 signals retraction in an <items> container
+		end
 		local message = st.message({ from = user_bare, type = "headline" })
 			:tag("event", { xmlns = xmlns_pubsub_event })
 				:tag(kind, { node = node });

--- a/plugins/mod_pubsub/mod_pubsub.lua	Thu Aug 16 06:05:11 2018 +0200
+++ b/plugins/mod_pubsub/mod_pubsub.lua	Thu Aug 16 14:32:21 2018 +0200
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@
 end
 
 function simple_broadcast(kind, node, jids, item, actor, node_obj)
+	if kind == "retract" then
+		kind = "items"; -- XEP-0060 signals retraction in an <items> container
+	end
+
 	if item then
 		item = st.clone(item);
 		item.attr.xmlns = nil; -- Clear the pubsub namespace

--- a/util/pubsub.lua	Thu Aug 16 06:05:11 2018 +0200
+++ b/util/pubsub.lua	Thu Aug 16 14:32:21 2018 +0200
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@
 	end
 	self.events.fire_event("item-retracted", { node = node, actor = actor, id = id });
 	if retract then
-		self.config.broadcaster("items", node, node_obj.subscribers, retract, actor, node_obj, self);
+		self.config.broadcaster("retract", node, node_obj.subscribers, retract, actor, node_obj, self);
 	end
 	return true
 end