diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_objects.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_objects.cc
index a834bddf..746c690d 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_objects.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_objects.cc
@@ -1031,12 +1031,12 @@ Xref_table::insert(int obj, int f0, qpdf_offset_t f1, int f2)
     auto& entry = table[static_cast<size_t>(obj)];
     auto old_type = entry.type();
 
-    if (!old_type && entry.gen() > 0) {
+    if ((!old_type && entry.gen() > 0) || (old_type && entry.gen() >= new_gen)) {
         // At the moment we are processing the updates last to first and therefore the gen doesn't
-        // matter as long as it > 0 to distinguish it from an uninitialized entry. This will need
-        // to be revisited when we want to support incremental updates or more comprehensive
-        // checking.
-        QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF xref deleted object");
+        // matter for deleted objects as long as gen > 0 to distinguish it from an uninitialized
+        // entry. This will need to be revisited when we want to support incremental updates or more
+        // comprehensive checking.
+        QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF xref replaced / deleted object", old_type == 0 ? 0 : 1);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -1046,11 +1046,6 @@ Xref_table::insert(int obj, int f0, qpdf_offset_t f1, int f2)
         return;
     }
 
-    if (old_type && entry.gen() >= new_gen) {
-        QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF xref reused object");
-        return;
-    }
-
     switch (f0) {
     case 1:
         // f2 is generation
diff --git a/qpdf/qpdf.testcov b/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
index 6f8d5566..7c587f06 100644
--- a/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
+++ b/qpdf/qpdf.testcov
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ QPDFWriter write to file 0
 QPDF lin write nshared_total > nshared_first_page 1
 QPDFWriter encrypted hint stream 0
 QPDF opt inherited scalar 0
-QPDF xref reused object 0
 QPDF xref gen > 0 1
 QPDF not a pdf file 0
 QPDF can't find startxref 0
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ QPDF prev key in xref stream dictionary 0
 QPDF prev key in trailer dictionary 0
 QPDF found xref stream 0
 QPDF ignoring XRefStm in trailer 0
-QPDF xref deleted object 0
+QPDF xref replaced / deleted object 1
 SF_FlateLzwDecode PNG filter 0
 QPDF xref /Index is null 0
 QPDF xref /Index is array 1