diff --git a/swift/obj/server.py b/swift/obj/server.py
index 408b6416e1..157cca4d93 100644
--- a/swift/obj/server.py
+++ b/swift/obj/server.py
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ class ObjectController(BaseStorageServer):
         except DiskFileXattrNotSupported:
             return HTTPInsufficientStorage(drive=device, request=request)
         except DiskFileDeleted as e:
-            orig_metadata = e.metadata
+            orig_metadata = {}
             orig_timestamp = e.timestamp
         except (DiskFileNotExist, DiskFileQuarantined):
             orig_metadata = {}
diff --git a/test/functional/test_object.py b/test/functional/test_object.py
index f23ccbc78e..f6c82668f2 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_object.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_object.py
@@ -273,6 +273,12 @@ class TestObject(unittest2.TestCase):
         })
 
     def test_if_none_match(self):
+        def delete(url, token, parsed, conn):
+            conn.request('DELETE', '%s/%s/%s' % (
+                parsed.path, self.container, 'if_none_match_test'), '',
+                {'X-Auth-Token': token})
+            return check_response(conn)
+
         def put(url, token, parsed, conn):
             conn.request('PUT', '%s/%s/%s' % (
                 parsed.path, self.container, 'if_none_match_test'), '',
@@ -287,6 +293,13 @@ class TestObject(unittest2.TestCase):
         resp.read()
         self.assertEqual(resp.status, 412)
 
+        resp = retry(delete)
+        resp.read()
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status, 204)
+        resp = retry(put)
+        resp.read()
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status, 201)
+
         def put(url, token, parsed, conn):
             conn.request('PUT', '%s/%s/%s' % (
                 parsed.path, self.container, 'if_none_match_test'), '',