diff --git a/jsonpatch.py b/jsonpatch.py
index 96fe6f9..32508e2 100644
--- a/jsonpatch.py
+++ b/jsonpatch.py
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ def _optimize_using_replace(prev, cur):
     if cur['op'] == 'add':
         # make recursive patch
         patch = make_patch(prev['value'], cur['value'])
-        if len(patch.patch) == 1:
+        if len(patch.patch) == 1 and patch.patch[0]['op'] != 'remove':
             prev['path'] = prev['path'] + patch.patch[0]['path']
             prev['value'] = patch.patch[0]['value']
         else:
diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index 8b0b52c..5acf24b 100755
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -317,6 +317,15 @@ class MakePatchTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         res = jsonpatch.apply_patch(src, patch)
         self.assertEqual(res, dst)
 
+    def test_use_replace_instead_of_remove_add_nested(self):
+        src = {'foo': [{'bar': 1, 'baz': 2}, {'bar': 2, 'baz': 3}]}
+        dst = {'foo': [{'bar': 1}, {'bar': 2, 'baz': 3}]}
+        patch = list(jsonpatch.make_patch(src, dst))
+        self.assertEqual(len(patch), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(patch[0]['op'], 'replace')
+        res = jsonpatch.apply_patch(src, patch)
+        self.assertEqual(res, dst)
+
     def test_use_move_instead_of_remove_add(self):
         src = {'foo': [4, 1, 2, 3]}
         dst = {'foo': [1, 2, 3, 4]}