diff --git a/telethon/telegram_client.py b/telethon/telegram_client.py
index 5a5d99ec..a5ce4572 100644
--- a/telethon/telegram_client.py
+++ b/telethon/telegram_client.py
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ class TelegramClient(TelegramBareClient):
         if limit == 0:
             # No messages, but we still need to know the total message count
             result = self(GetHistoryRequest(
-                peer=self.get_input_entity(entity), limit=1,
+                peer=entity, limit=1,
                 offset_date=None, offset_id=0, max_id=0, min_id=0, add_offset=0
             ))
             return getattr(result, 'count', len(result.messages)), [], []