diff --git a/blocks/recent_activity/block_recent_activity.php b/blocks/recent_activity/block_recent_activity.php
index b62eefb7851..c58c3596854 100644
--- a/blocks/recent_activity/block_recent_activity.php
+++ b/blocks/recent_activity/block_recent_activity.php
@@ -100,13 +100,17 @@ class block_recent_activity extends block_base {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Returns all recent enrollments
+     * Returns all recent enrolments.
+     *
+     * This function previously used get_recent_enrolments located in lib/deprecatedlib.php which would
+     * return an empty array which was identified in MDL-36993. The use of this function outside the
+     * deprecated lib was removed in MDL-40649.
      *
      * @todo MDL-36993 this function always return empty array
      * @return array array of entries from {user} table
      */
     protected function get_recent_enrolments() {
-        return get_recent_enrolments($this->page->course->id, $this->get_timestart());
+        return array();
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/lib/deprecatedlib.php b/lib/deprecatedlib.php
index 0e27828bb9f..ff33108259a 100644
--- a/lib/deprecatedlib.php
+++ b/lib/deprecatedlib.php
@@ -455,9 +455,6 @@ function is_course_participant($userid, $courseid) {
  *
  * used to print recent activity
  *
- * @todo MDL-36993 this function is still used in block_recent_activity, deprecate properly
- * @global object
- * @uses CONTEXT_COURSE
  * @param int $courseid The course in question.
  * @param int $timestart The date to check forward of
  * @return object|false  {@link $USER} records or false if error.
@@ -465,8 +462,9 @@ function is_course_participant($userid, $courseid) {
 function get_recent_enrolments($courseid, $timestart) {
     global $DB;
 
-    $context = context_course::instance($courseid);
+    debugging('get_recent_enrolments() is deprecated as it returned inaccurate results.', DEBUG_DEVELOPER);
 
+    $context = context_course::instance($courseid);
     $sql = "SELECT u.id, u.firstname, u.lastname, MAX(l.time)
               FROM {user} u, {role_assignments} ra, {log} l
              WHERE l.time > ?
diff --git a/lib/upgrade.txt b/lib/upgrade.txt
index 437a22cfacc..53c67a9a5a9 100644
--- a/lib/upgrade.txt
+++ b/lib/upgrade.txt
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ Accesslib:
     * load_temp_role()              ->  (no replacement)
     * remove_temp_roles()           ->  (no replacement)
     * get_related_contexts_string() ->  $context->get_parent_context_ids(true)
+    * get_recent_enrolments()       ->  (no replacement)
 
 Enrollment:
     * get_course_participants()     -> get_enrolled_users()