diff --git a/go/logic/applier.go b/go/logic/applier.go
index a1175b1..a355796 100644
--- a/go/logic/applier.go
+++ b/go/logic/applier.go
@@ -24,6 +24,32 @@ const (
 	atomicCutOverMagicHint = "ghost-cut-over-sentry"
 )
 
+type dmlBuildResult struct {
+	query     string
+	args      []interface{}
+	rowsDelta int64
+	err       error
+}
+
+func newDmlBuildResult(query string, args []interface{}, rowsDelta int64, err error) *dmlBuildResult {
+	return &dmlBuildResult{
+		query:     query,
+		args:      args,
+		rowsDelta: rowsDelta,
+		err:       err,
+	}
+}
+
+func newDmlBuildResultError(err error) *dmlBuildResult {
+	return &dmlBuildResult{
+		err: err,
+	}
+}
+
+func buildResults(args ...(*dmlBuildResult)) [](*dmlBuildResult) {
+	return args
+}
+
 // Applier connects and writes the the applier-server, which is the server where migration
 // happens. This is typically the master, but could be a replica when `--test-on-replica` or
 // `--execute-on-replica` are given.
@@ -899,7 +925,7 @@ func (this *Applier) ShowStatusVariable(variableName string) (result int64, err
 	return result, nil
 }
 
-func (this *Applier) validateUpdateDoesNotModifyMigrationUniqueKeyColumns(dmlEvent *binlog.BinlogDMLEvent) error {
+func (this *Applier) updateModifiesUniqueKeyColumns(dmlEvent *binlog.BinlogDMLEvent) (modifiedColumn string, isModified bool) {
 	// log.Debugf("............ UPDATE")
 	// log.Debugf("............ UPDATE: %+v", this.migrationContext.UniqueKey.Columns.String())
 	// log.Debugf("............ UPDATE: %+v", dmlEvent.WhereColumnValues.String())
@@ -912,88 +938,97 @@ func (this *Applier) validateUpdateDoesNotModifyMigrationUniqueKeyColumns(dmlEve
 		// log.Debugf("............ UPDATE: new value= %+v", newColumnValue)
 		// log.Debugf("............ UPDATE: equals? %+v", newColumnValue == whereColumnValue)
 		if newColumnValue != whereColumnValue {
-			return log.Errorf("gh-ost detected an UPDATE to a unique key column this migration is iterating on. Such update is not supported. Column is %s", column.Name)
+			return column.Name, true
 		}
 	}
-	return nil
+	return "", false
 }
 
 // buildDMLEventQuery creates a query to operate on the ghost table, based on an intercepted binlog
 // event entry on the original table.
-func (this *Applier) buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent *binlog.BinlogDMLEvent) (query string, args []interface{}, rowsDelta int64, err error) {
+func (this *Applier) buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent *binlog.BinlogDMLEvent) (results [](*dmlBuildResult)) {
 	switch dmlEvent.DML {
 	case binlog.DeleteDML:
 		{
 			query, uniqueKeyArgs, err := sql.BuildDMLDeleteQuery(dmlEvent.DatabaseName, this.migrationContext.GetGhostTableName(), this.migrationContext.OriginalTableColumns, &this.migrationContext.UniqueKey.Columns, dmlEvent.WhereColumnValues.AbstractValues())
-			return query, uniqueKeyArgs, -1, err
+			return buildResults(newDmlBuildResult(query, uniqueKeyArgs, -1, err))
 		}
 	case binlog.InsertDML:
 		{
 			query, sharedArgs, err := sql.BuildDMLInsertQuery(dmlEvent.DatabaseName, this.migrationContext.GetGhostTableName(), this.migrationContext.OriginalTableColumns, this.migrationContext.SharedColumns, this.migrationContext.MappedSharedColumns, dmlEvent.NewColumnValues.AbstractValues())
-			return query, sharedArgs, 1, err
+			return buildResults(newDmlBuildResult(query, sharedArgs, 1, err))
 		}
 	case binlog.UpdateDML:
 		{
-			if err := this.validateUpdateDoesNotModifyMigrationUniqueKeyColumns(dmlEvent); err != nil {
-				return query, args, rowsDelta, err
+			if modifiedColumn, isModified := this.updateModifiesUniqueKeyColumns(dmlEvent); isModified {
+				log.Debugf("---------------- Detected modifiedColumn: %+v. Will turn into DELETE+INSERT", modifiedColumn)
+				dmlEvent.DML = binlog.DeleteDML
+				results = append(results, this.buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent)...)
+				dmlEvent.DML = binlog.InsertDML
+				results = append(results, this.buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent)...)
+				return results
+				// return buildResults(newDmlBuildResultError(log.Errorf("gh-ost detected an UPDATE to a unique key column this migration is iterating on. Such update is not supported. Column is `%s`", modifiedColumn)))
+				//				return query, args, rowsDelta, log.Errorf("gh-ost detected an UPDATE to a unique key column this migration is iterating on. Such update is not supported. Column is `%s`", modifiedColumn)
 			}
 			query, sharedArgs, uniqueKeyArgs, err := sql.BuildDMLUpdateQuery(dmlEvent.DatabaseName, this.migrationContext.GetGhostTableName(), this.migrationContext.OriginalTableColumns, this.migrationContext.SharedColumns, this.migrationContext.MappedSharedColumns, &this.migrationContext.UniqueKey.Columns, dmlEvent.NewColumnValues.AbstractValues(), dmlEvent.WhereColumnValues.AbstractValues())
+			args := sqlutils.Args()
 			args = append(args, sharedArgs...)
 			args = append(args, uniqueKeyArgs...)
-			return query, args, 0, err
+			return buildResults(newDmlBuildResult(query, args, 0, err))
 		}
 	}
-	return "", args, 0, fmt.Errorf("Unknown dml event type: %+v", dmlEvent.DML)
+	return buildResults(newDmlBuildResultError(fmt.Errorf("Unknown dml event type: %+v", dmlEvent.DML)))
 }
 
 // ApplyDMLEventQuery writes an entry to the ghost table, in response to an intercepted
 // original-table binlog event
 func (this *Applier) ApplyDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent *binlog.BinlogDMLEvent) error {
-	query, args, rowDelta, err := this.buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	// TODO The below is in preparation for transactional writes on the ghost tables.
-	// Such writes would be, for example:
-	// - prepended with sql_mode setup
-	// - prepended with time zone setup
-	// - prepended with SET SQL_LOG_BIN=0
-	// - prepended with SET FK_CHECKS=0
-	// etc.
-	//
-	// a known problem: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/9373 -- bitint unsigned values, not supported in database/sql
-	// is solved by silently converting unsigned bigints to string values.
-	//
-
-	err = func() error {
-		tx, err := this.db.Begin()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
+	for _, buildResult := range this.buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent) {
+		if buildResult.err != nil {
+			return buildResult.err
 		}
-		sessionQuery := `SET
+		// TODO The below is in preparation for transactional writes on the ghost tables.
+		// Such writes would be, for example:
+		// - prepended with sql_mode setup
+		// - prepended with time zone setup
+		// - prepended with SET SQL_LOG_BIN=0
+		// - prepended with SET FK_CHECKS=0
+		// etc.
+		//
+		// a known problem: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/9373 -- bitint unsigned values, not supported in database/sql
+		// is solved by silently converting unsigned bigints to string values.
+		//
+
+		err := func() error {
+			tx, err := this.db.Begin()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			sessionQuery := `SET
 			SESSION time_zone = '+00:00',
 			sql_mode = CONCAT(@@session.sql_mode, ',STRICT_ALL_TABLES')
 			`
-		if _, err := tx.Exec(sessionQuery); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if _, err := tx.Exec(query, args...); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		return nil
-	}()
+			if _, err := tx.Exec(sessionQuery); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if _, err := tx.Exec(buildResult.query, buildResult.args...); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			return nil
+		}()
 
-	if err != nil {
-		err = fmt.Errorf("%s; query=%s; args=%+v", err.Error(), query, args)
-		return log.Errore(err)
-	}
-	// no error
-	atomic.AddInt64(&this.migrationContext.TotalDMLEventsApplied, 1)
-	if this.migrationContext.CountTableRows {
-		atomic.AddInt64(&this.migrationContext.RowsDeltaEstimate, rowDelta)
+		if err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("%s; query=%s; args=%+v", err.Error(), buildResult.query, buildResult.args)
+			return log.Errore(err)
+		}
+		// no error
+		atomic.AddInt64(&this.migrationContext.TotalDMLEventsApplied, 1)
+		if this.migrationContext.CountTableRows {
+			atomic.AddInt64(&this.migrationContext.RowsDeltaEstimate, buildResult.rowsDelta)
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -1022,15 +1057,16 @@ func (this *Applier) ApplyDMLEventQueries(dmlEvents [](*binlog.BinlogDMLEvent))
 			return rollback(err)
 		}
 		for _, dmlEvent := range dmlEvents {
-			query, args, rowDelta, err := this.buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent)
-			if err != nil {
-				return rollback(err)
+			for _, buildResult := range this.buildDMLEventQuery(dmlEvent) {
+				if buildResult.err != nil {
+					return rollback(buildResult.err)
+				}
+				if _, err := tx.Exec(buildResult.query, buildResult.args...); err != nil {
+					err = fmt.Errorf("%s; query=%s; args=%+v", err.Error(), buildResult.query, buildResult.args)
+					return rollback(err)
+				}
+				totalDelta += buildResult.rowsDelta
 			}
-			if _, err := tx.Exec(query, args...); err != nil {
-				err = fmt.Errorf("%s; query=%s; args=%+v", err.Error(), query, args)
-				return rollback(err)
-			}
-			totalDelta += rowDelta
 		}
 		if err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/localtests/fail-update-pk-column/expect_failure b/localtests/fail-update-pk-column/expect_failure
deleted file mode 100644
index 1b73369..0000000
--- a/localtests/fail-update-pk-column/expect_failure
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-gh-ost detected an UPDATE to a unique key column this migration is iterating on