diff --git a/crates/audit/src/lib.rs b/crates/audit/src/lib.rs
index b79353e85..6dc329d9a 100644
--- a/crates/audit/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/audit/src/lib.rs
@@ -143,11 +143,13 @@ pub fn audit_redactions(doc: &Document) -> Result<Vec<AuditFinding>, AuditError>
 }
 
 /// A filled rectangle is a faux-redaction cover for a text line iff it was painted strictly
-/// after the line, overlaps it substantially, and is dark enough against the line's color to
-/// make the text unreadable. Light covers (table shading, highlights) over dark text fail the
-/// contrast check and are not flagged.
+/// after the start of the line, overlaps it substantially, and is dark enough against the line's
+/// color to make the text unreadable. Light covers (table shading, highlights) over dark text fail
+/// the contrast check and are not flagged. A line can join runs painted before and after the
+/// cover; the later ones are drawn on it in the same low-contrast color, so they are unreadable
+/// too.
 fn is_cover(rect: &cover::FilledRect, line: &TextLine) -> bool {
-    rect.pos > line.paint_pos() && covers(&rect.rect, line) && contrast(line.color, rect.rgb) < COVER_CONTRAST
+    rect.pos > line.first_paint_pos() && covers(&rect.rect, line) && contrast(line.color, rect.rgb) < COVER_CONTRAST
 }
 
 /// Does `cover` hide a substantial part of what `line` draws? Three ways, any is enough:
diff --git a/crates/audit/src/tests.rs b/crates/audit/src/tests.rs
index 9be067ae0..9d5a1726d 100644
--- a/crates/audit/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/audit/src/tests.rs
@@ -631,3 +631,16 @@ fn indirect_subtype_is_resolved() {
     assert_eq!(findings.len(), 1, "{findings:?}");
     assert_eq!(findings[0].kind, FindingKind::CoveredText);
 }
+
+/// Text drawn after a cover on the same baseline joins the covered text in one line. The cover
+/// still hides the words painted before it.
+#[test]
+fn later_text_on_the_line_does_not_clear_an_earlier_cover() {
+    let content = b"0 g\nBT /F1 24 Tf 100 700 Td (SECRET) Tj ET\n98 688 94 32 re f\nBT /F1 24 Tf 200 700 Td (tail) Tj ET\n";
+    let doc = open(one_page(content, ""));
+    let lines = pdfcraft_edit::text_lines(&doc, 0).expect("text");
+    assert_eq!(lines.len(), 1, "the runs join one line: {:?}", lines.iter().map(|l| &l.text).collect::<Vec<_>>());
+    let findings = audit_redactions(&doc).expect("audit must run");
+    assert_eq!(findings.len(), 1, "{findings:?}");
+    assert!(findings[0].covered_text.contains("SECRET"), "{findings:?}");
+}
diff --git a/crates/edit/src/text.rs b/crates/edit/src/text.rs
index 93a5eec99..1861b7816 100644
--- a/crates/edit/src/text.rs
+++ b/crates/edit/src/text.rs
@@ -528,12 +528,13 @@ impl TextLine {
         self.origin.baseline
     }
 
-    /// Paint position of the line's last text-showing operator: `(content-stream index,
-    /// operator index in the page's joined stream)`. Lines paint in order of this tuple.
+    /// Paint position of the line's first operator: `(content-stream index, operator index in
+    /// the page's joined stream)`. A line joins runs painted at different times, so anything
+    /// painted after this position may lie on top of part of it.
     /// (Lines from `text_lines` never come from form XObjects, so `stream` is always a
     /// page content-stream index and `ops` are indices into the joined operator list.)
-    pub fn paint_pos(&self) -> (usize, usize) {
-        (self.stream, self.ops.iter().max().copied().unwrap_or(0))
+    pub fn first_paint_pos(&self) -> (usize, usize) {
+        (self.stream, self.ops.iter().min().copied().unwrap_or(0))
     }
 
     fn rotation(&self) -> f64 {