diff --git a/ext/libsmacker/smacker.c b/ext/libsmacker/smacker.c
index eef6e7b75..119f22503 100644
--- a/ext/libsmacker/smacker.c
+++ b/ext/libsmacker/smacker.c
@@ -1224,9 +1224,10 @@ static char smk_render_palette(struct smk_video_t * s, unsigned char * p, unsign
 			p ++;
 			size --;
 
-			/* overflow: see if we write/read beyond 256colors, or overwrite own palette */
-			if (i + count > 256 || src + count > 256 ||
-				(src < i && src + count > i)) {
+			/* overflow: see if we write/read beyond 256 colors. Overlap between
+			   the src and dst ranges is fine: src reads from oldPalette, a
+			   snapshot taken above, while we write into s->palette. */
+			if (i + count > 256 || src + count > 256) {
 				fprintf(stderr, "libsmacker::palette_render(s,p,size) - ERROR: overflow, 0x40 attempt to copy %d entries from %d to %d\n", count, src, i);
 				goto error;
 			}