diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java
index be26dbc9cb..19317425b7 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContext.java
@@ -133,7 +133,10 @@ public void put(String key, @Nullable Object value) {
 		}
 		else {
 			Object result = this.map.remove(key);
-			this.dirty = result != null;
+
+			if (!this.dirty) {
+				this.dirty = result != null;
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java
index 5ec7b794a4..7e9052624e 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/ExecutionContextTests.java
@@ -88,11 +88,13 @@ void testNotDirtyWithDuplicate() {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void testNotDirtyWithRemoveMissing() {
+	void testDirtyWithRemoveMissing() {
 		context.putString("1", "test");
 		assertTrue(context.isDirty());
 		context.putString("1", null); // remove an item that was present
 		assertTrue(context.isDirty());
+
+		context.clearDirtyFlag();
 		context.putString("1", null); // remove a non-existent item
 		assertFalse(context.isDirty());
 	}