diff --git a/utils/iterator.go b/utils/iterator.go
index 1284fd6..f69d78f 100644
--- a/utils/iterator.go
+++ b/utils/iterator.go
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 type symmDiffIterator struct {
-	a, b       iterState // Nodes returned are those in b - a and a - b (keys only)
-	yieldFromA bool      // Whether next node comes from a
-	count      int       // Number of nodes scanned on either trie
+	a, b        iterState // Nodes returned are those in b - a and a - b (keys only)
+	yieldFromA  bool      // Whether next node comes from a
+	count       int       // Number of nodes scanned on either trie
+	eqPathIndex int       // Count index of last pair of equal paths, to detect an updated key
 }
 
 // NewDifferenceIterator constructs a trie.NodeIterator that iterates over the exclusive elements in b that
@@ -47,6 +48,12 @@ func (it *symmDiffIterator) FromA() bool {
 	return it.yieldFromA
 }
 
+// CommonPath returns true if a node with the current path exists in each sub-iterator - i.e. it
+// represents an updated node.
+func (it *symmDiffIterator) CommonPath() bool {
+	return it.count-it.eqPathIndex <= 1
+}
+
 func (it *symmDiffIterator) Hash() common.Hash {
 	return it.curr().Hash()
 }
@@ -110,7 +117,12 @@ func (it *symmDiffIterator) seek() {
 			return
 		}
 
-		switch compareNodes(&it.a, &it.b) {
+		cmp := bytes.Compare(it.a.Path(), it.b.Path())
+		if cmp == 0 {
+			it.eqPathIndex = it.count
+			cmp = compareValues(&it.a, &it.b)
+		}
+		switch cmp {
 		case -1:
 			it.yieldFromA = true
 			return
@@ -136,10 +148,7 @@ func (it *symmDiffIterator) Error() error {
 }
 
 // Compares nodes with equal paths by value
-func compareNodes(a, b trie.NodeIterator) int {
-	if cmp := bytes.Compare(a.Path(), b.Path()); cmp != 0 {
-		return cmp
-	}
+func compareValues(a, b trie.NodeIterator) int {
 	if a.Leaf() && !b.Leaf() {
 		return -1
 	} else if b.Leaf() && !a.Leaf() {
diff --git a/utils/iterator_test.go b/utils/iterator_test.go
index f22a0d1..2b4eb37 100644
--- a/utils/iterator_test.go
+++ b/utils/iterator_test.go
@@ -50,7 +50,26 @@ func TestSymmetricDifferenceIterator(t *testing.T) {
 		for di.Next(true) {
 			t.Errorf("iterator should not yield any elements")
 		}
-		assert.NotEqual(t, 0, count)
+		assert.Equal(t, 4, *count)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("with one difference", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dba := trie.NewDatabase(rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase())
+		triea := trie.NewEmpty(dba)
+
+		dbb := trie.NewDatabase(rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase())
+		trieb := trie.NewEmpty(dbb)
+		trieb.MustUpdate([]byte("foo"), []byte("bar"))
+
+		di, count := utils.NewSymmetricDifferenceIterator(triea.NodeIterator(nil), trieb.NodeIterator(nil))
+		for di.Next(true) {
+			if di.Leaf() {
+				assert.Equal(t, []byte("foo"), di.LeafKey())
+				assert.Equal(t, []byte("bar"), di.LeafBlob())
+				assert.False(t, di.CommonPath())
+			}
+		}
+		assert.Equal(t, 2, *count)
 	})
 
 	dba := trie.NewDatabase(rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase())
@@ -66,6 +85,7 @@ func TestSymmetricDifferenceIterator(t *testing.T) {
 
 	onlyA := make(map[string]string)
 	onlyB := make(map[string]string)
+	var deletions, creations []string
 	it, _ := utils.NewSymmetricDifferenceIterator(triea.NodeIterator(nil), trieb.NodeIterator(nil))
 	for it.Next(true) {
 		if !it.Leaf() {
@@ -74,8 +94,14 @@ func TestSymmetricDifferenceIterator(t *testing.T) {
 		key, value := string(it.LeafKey()), string(it.LeafBlob())
 		if it.FromA() {
 			onlyA[key] = value
+			if !it.CommonPath() {
+				deletions = append(deletions, key)
+			}
 		} else {
 			onlyB[key] = value
+			if !it.CommonPath() {
+				creations = append(creations, key)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -92,6 +118,17 @@ func TestSymmetricDifferenceIterator(t *testing.T) {
 		"foos":     "aa",
 		"jars":     "d",
 	}
+	expectedDeletions := []string{
+		"bard",
+		"food",
+	}
+	expectedCreations := []string{
+		"aardvark",
+		"foos",
+		"jars",
+	}
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedOnlyA, onlyA)
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedOnlyB, onlyB)
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedDeletions, deletions)
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedCreations, creations)
 }