diff --git a/lib/activerecord-import/import.rb b/lib/activerecord-import/import.rb
index 0646c1f..a914934 100644
--- a/lib/activerecord-import/import.rb
+++ b/lib/activerecord-import/import.rb
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ class ActiveRecord::Base
     #
     #  # Example synchronizing unsaved/new instances in memory by using a uniqued imported field
     #  posts = [BlogPost.new(:title => "Foo"), BlogPost.new(:title => "Bar")]
-    #  BlogPost.import posts, :synchronize => posts
-    #  puts posts.first.new_record? # => false
+    #  BlogPost.import posts, :synchronize => posts, :synchronize_keys => [:title]
+    #  puts posts.first.persisted? # => true
     #
     # == On Duplicate Key Update (MySQL only)
     #
diff --git a/lib/activerecord-import/synchronize.rb b/lib/activerecord-import/synchronize.rb
index 60408e5..a5286d7 100644
--- a/lib/activerecord-import/synchronize.rb
+++ b/lib/activerecord-import/synchronize.rb
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ module ActiveRecord # :nodoc:
           instance.clear_aggregation_cache
           instance.clear_association_cache
           instance.instance_variable_set '@attributes', matched_instance.attributes
+          # Since the instance now accurately reflects the record in
+          # the database, ensure that instance.persisted? is true.
+          instance.instance_variable_set '@new_record', false
+          instance.instance_variable_set '@destroyed', false
         end
       end
     end
@@ -52,4 +56,4 @@ module ActiveRecord # :nodoc:
       self.class.synchronize(instances, key)
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/test/import_test.rb b/test/import_test.rb
index efc1ee9..cc06891 100644
--- a/test/import_test.rb
+++ b/test/import_test.rb
@@ -134,8 +134,18 @@ describe "#import" do
       let(:new_topics) { Build(3, :topics) }
 
       it "reloads data for existing in-memory instances" do
-        Topic.import(new_topics, :synchronize => new_topics, :synchronize_key => [:title] )
-        assert new_topics.all?(&:new_record?), "Records should have been reloaded"
+        Topic.import(new_topics, :synchronize => new_topics, :synchronize_keys => [:title] )
+        assert new_topics.all?(&:persisted?), "Records should have been reloaded"
+      end      
+    end
+
+    context "synchronizing on destroyed records with explicit conditions" do
+      let(:new_topics) { Generate(3, :topics) }
+
+      it "reloads data for existing in-memory instances" do
+        new_topics.each &:destroy
+        Topic.import(new_topics, :synchronize => new_topics, :synchronize_keys => [:title] )
+        assert new_topics.all?(&:persisted?), "Records should have been reloaded"
       end      
     end
   end