diff --git a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua
index 995e61812..a5e93ecbc 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua
+++ b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua
@@ -2224,14 +2224,27 @@ function ReaderHighlight:updateHighlightPageNumbers()
         local bookmark = bookmarks[i]
         if bookmark.highlighted then
             local highlight = self:getHighlightByDatetime(bookmark.datetime)
+            if not highlight and (self.ui.rolling or bookmark.pos0.page == bookmark.pos1.page) then
+                -- restore highlight for orphaned bookmark
+                -- do not bother with restoring pboxes for pdf multi-page highlight, keep bookmark orphaned
+                highlight = {
+                    datetime = bookmark.datetime,
+                    text     = bookmark.notes,
+                    chapter  = bookmark.chapter,
+                    pos0     = bookmark.pos0,
+                    pos1     = bookmark.pos1,
+                    drawer   = self.view.highlight.saved_drawer,
+                }
+                if self.ui.paging then
+                    highlight.pboxes = self.document:getPageBoxesFromPositions(bookmark.page, bookmark.pos0, bookmark.pos1)
+                end
+            end
             if highlight then
                 local pageno = self.ui.paging and bookmark.page or self.document:getPageFromXPointer(bookmark.page)
                 if highlights[pageno] == nil then
                     highlights[pageno] = {}
                 end
                 table.insert(highlights[pageno], highlight)
-            else -- orphan
-                table.remove(bookmarks, i)
             end
         end
     end