diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8325bbe81..392f5d493 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4392,6 +4392,24 @@ dependencies = [
  "typst-ts-test-common",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "typst-ts-incremental-test"
+version = "0.4.2-rc1"
+dependencies = [
+ "anyhow",
+ "comemo",
+ "hex",
+ "sha2",
+ "tokio",
+ "typst",
+ "typst-syntax",
+ "typst-ts-compiler",
+ "typst-ts-core",
+ "typst-ts-dev-server",
+ "typst-ts-svg-exporter",
+ "typst-ts-test-common",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "typst-ts-integration-test"
 version = "0.4.2-rc1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5f6b14324..df154dfe9 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ members = [
 
     "tests/common",
     "tests/heap-profile",
+    "tests/incremental",
     "tests/integration",
     "tests/std",
 ]
diff --git a/core/src/vector/flat_vm.rs b/core/src/vector/flat_vm.rs
index 7dd1478cb..ffdaf46bf 100644
--- a/core/src/vector/flat_vm.rs
+++ b/core/src/vector/flat_vm.rs
@@ -338,15 +338,15 @@ where
     ) {
         let child_ref = &transformed.1;
         let state = state.pre_apply(&transformed.0);
-        if matches!(prev_item_, Some(ir::FlatSvgItem::Item(ir::TransformedRef(_item, prev_ref)))
-            if prev_ref == child_ref)
-        {
-            // assert!(item != &transformed.0);
-            ts.render_diff_item_ref_at(state, self, Point::default(), child_ref, child_ref);
-            return;
+        match prev_item_ {
+            // if both items are transformed, we can reuse the internal item with transforming it a
+            // bit.
+            Some(ir::FlatSvgItem::Item(ir::TransformedRef(_item, prev_ref))) => {
+                ts.render_diff_item_ref_at(state, self, Point::default(), child_ref, prev_ref);
+            }
+            _ => ts.render_item_ref(state, self, child_ref),
         }
         // failed to reuse
-        ts.render_item_ref(state, self, child_ref);
     }
 
     /// Render a diff text into the underlying context.
diff --git a/tests/incremental/Cargo.toml b/tests/incremental/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76813eb77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/incremental/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+[package]
+name = "typst-ts-incremental-test"
+authors.workspace = true
+version.workspace = true
+license.workspace = true
+edition.workspace = true
+homepage.workspace = true
+repository.workspace = true
+
+[dependencies]
+typst.workspace = true
+typst-syntax.workspace = true
+comemo.workspace = true
+
+sha2.workspace = true
+anyhow.workspace = true
+tokio.workspace = true
+
+typst-ts-dev-server.workspace = true
+typst-ts-test-common.workspace = true
+typst-ts-core.workspace = true
+hex.workspace = true
+typst-ts-compiler.workspace = true
+typst-ts-svg-exporter.workspace = true
+
+[features]
+generate = []
diff --git a/tests/incremental/src/main.rs b/tests/incremental/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..98df6607b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/incremental/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use typst::model::Document;
+use typst_ts_compiler::{
+    service::{CompileDriver, CompileExporter, Compiler},
+    ShadowApi, TypstSystemWorld,
+};
+use typst_ts_core::{
+    config::CompileOpts,
+    exporter_builtins::GroupExporter,
+    vector::{
+        incr::{IncrDocClient, IncrDocServer},
+        ir::{Abs, Point, Rect},
+        stream::BytesModuleStream,
+    },
+};
+use typst_ts_svg_exporter::IncrSvgDocClient;
+
+fn get_driver(
+    workspace_dir: &Path,
+    entry_file_path: &Path,
+    exporter: GroupExporter<Document>,
+) -> CompileExporter<CompileDriver> {
+    let project_base = std::path::Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).join("../..");
+    let font_path = project_base.join("assets/fonts");
+    let world = TypstSystemWorld::new(CompileOpts {
+        root_dir: workspace_dir.to_owned(),
+        no_system_fonts: true,
+        font_paths: vec![font_path],
+        ..CompileOpts::default()
+    })
+    .unwrap();
+
+    let driver = CompileDriver {
+        world,
+        entry_file: entry_file_path.to_owned(),
+    };
+
+    CompileExporter::new(driver).with_exporter(exporter)
+}
+
+pub fn test_compiler(
+    workspace_dir: &Path,
+    entry_file_path: &Path,
+    exporter: GroupExporter<Document>,
+) {
+    let mut driver = get_driver(workspace_dir, entry_file_path, exporter);
+    let mut content = { std::fs::read_to_string(entry_file_path).expect("Could not read file") };
+
+    let mut incr_server = IncrDocServer::default();
+    let mut incr_client = IncrDocClient::default();
+    let mut incr_svg_client = IncrSvgDocClient::default();
+
+    let window = Rect {
+        lo: Point::new(Abs::from(0.), Abs::from(0.)),
+        hi: Point::new(Abs::from(1e33), Abs::from(1e33)),
+    };
+
+    let mut diff = vec![];
+
+    // checkout the entry file
+    let main_id = driver.main_id();
+
+    let doc = driver
+        .with_shadow_file_by_id(main_id, content.as_bytes().into(), |driver| {
+            driver.compile(&mut Default::default())
+        })
+        .unwrap();
+    let server_delta = incr_server.pack_delta(doc);
+    let server_delta = BytesModuleStream::from_slice(&server_delta).checkout_owned();
+    incr_client.merge_delta(server_delta);
+
+    for i in 0..200 {
+        println!("Iteration {}", i);
+
+        content = content.replace("@netwok2020", "@netwok2020 x");
+
+        let doc = driver
+            .with_shadow_file_by_id(main_id, content.as_bytes().into(), |driver| {
+                driver.compile(&mut Default::default())
+            })
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let server_delta = incr_server.pack_delta(doc);
+        let sd = server_delta.len();
+        let server_delta = BytesModuleStream::from_slice(&server_delta).checkout_owned();
+        incr_client.merge_delta(server_delta);
+        incr_client.set_layout(incr_client.doc.layouts[0].unwrap_single());
+        let cd = incr_svg_client.render_in_window(&mut incr_client, window);
+        // std::fs::write(format!("{}.svg", i), cd.clone()).unwrap();
+        diff.push((sd, cd.len()));
+
+        comemo::evict(10);
+    }
+
+    println!("diff: {:?}", diff);
+}
+
+pub fn main() {
+    let workspace_dir = std::path::Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).join("../..");
+    let entry_file_path = workspace_dir.join("fuzzers/corpora/typst-templates/ieee/main.typ");
+
+    let noop_exporter = GroupExporter::new(vec![]);
+    test_compiler(&workspace_dir, &entry_file_path, noop_exporter);
+}