diff --git a/helper/diffPlaces.js b/helper/diffPlaces.js
index 92b9ea51..d9b93478 100644
--- a/helper/diffPlaces.js
+++ b/helper/diffPlaces.js
@@ -70,17 +70,20 @@ function isNameDifferent(item1, item2){
   if( !isPojo1 || !isPojo2 ){ return false; }
 
   // else both have name info
-  // iterate over all the languages in item1, comparing between items
-  return Object.keys(names1).some( lang => {
 
-    // do not consider absence of an additional name as a difference
-    // but strictly enfore that 'default' must be present and match
-    if( _.has(names2, lang) || lang === 'default' ){
+  // iterate over all the languages in item2, comparing them to the
+  // 'default' name of item1
+  for( let lang in names2 ){
+    if( !isPropertyDifferent({[lang]: names1.default}, names2, lang) ){ return false; }
+  }
 
-      // do not consider absence of an additional name as a difference
-      return isPropertyDifferent(names1, names2, lang);
-    }
-  });
+  // iterate over all the languages in item1, comparing them to the
+  // 'default' name of item2
+  for( let lang in names1 ){
+    if( !isPropertyDifferent({[lang]: names2.default}, names1, lang) ){ return false; }
+  }
+
+  return true;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -133,12 +136,25 @@ function isPropertyDifferent(item1, item2, prop ){
   // if neither item has prop, we consider them the same
   if( !_.has(item1, prop) && !_.has(item2, prop) ){ return false; }
 
-  // handle arrays and other non-string values
-  var prop1 = field.getStringValue( _.get( item1, prop ) );
-  var prop2 = field.getStringValue( _.get( item2, prop ) );
+  // read property values, casting scalar values to arrays
+  var prop1 = field.getArrayValue( _.get( item1, prop ) );
+  var prop2 = field.getArrayValue( _.get( item2, prop ) );
+
+  // iterate over all properties in both sets, comparing each
+  // item in turn, return false on first match.
+  // handles non-string values
+  for( let i=0; i<prop1.length; i++ ){
+    let prop1StringValue = field.getStringValue( prop1[i] );
+    for( let j=0; j<prop2.length; j++ ){
+      let prop2StringValue = field.getStringValue( prop2[j] );
+      if( normalizeString( prop1StringValue ) === normalizeString( prop2StringValue ) ){
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
+  }
 
-  // compare strings
-  return normalizeString(prop1) !== normalizeString(prop2);
+  // we did not find any matching values, consider them different
+  return true;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/unit/helper/diffPlaces.js b/test/unit/helper/diffPlaces.js
index 6fc27c36..495fab02 100644
--- a/test/unit/helper/diffPlaces.js
+++ b/test/unit/helper/diffPlaces.js
@@ -128,6 +128,50 @@ module.exports.tests.dedupe = function(test, common) {
     t.end();
   });
 
+  test('improved matching across languages - if default name is the same, consider this a match', function(t) {
+    var item1 = {
+      'name': {
+        'default': 'Bern',
+        'eng': 'Bern',
+        'deu': 'Kanton Bern',
+        'fra': 'Berne'
+      }
+    };
+    var item2 = {
+      'name': {
+        'default': 'Bern',
+        'eng': 'Berne',
+        'deu': 'Bundesstadt', // note: this is wrong, see: https://github.com/whosonfirst-data/whosonfirst-data/issues/1363
+        'fra': 'Berne'
+      }
+    };
+
+    t.false(isDifferent(item1, item2), 'should be the same');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
+  test('improved matching across languages - default names differ but match another language', function(t) {
+    var item1 = {
+      'name': {
+        'default': 'Berne',
+        'eng': 'Bern',
+        'deu': 'Kanton Bern',
+        'fra': 'Berne'
+      }
+    };
+    var item2 = {
+      'name': {
+        'default': 'Bern',
+        'eng': 'Berne',
+        'deu': 'Bundesstadt',
+        'fra': 'Berne'
+      }
+    };
+
+    t.false(isDifferent(item1, item2), 'should be the same');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
   test('catch diff address', function(t) {
     var item1 = {
       'address_parts': {
@@ -167,6 +211,14 @@ module.exports.tests.dedupe = function(test, common) {
     t.end();
   });
 
+  test('completely empty objects', function(t) {
+    var item1 = {};
+    var item2 = {};
+
+    t.false(isDifferent(item1, item2), 'should be the same');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
   test('works with name aliases', function(t) {
     var item1 = {
       'name': {
diff --git a/test/unit/middleware/dedupe.js b/test/unit/middleware/dedupe.js
index 63cb3373..0fcebe77 100644
--- a/test/unit/middleware/dedupe.js
+++ b/test/unit/middleware/dedupe.js
@@ -94,6 +94,24 @@ module.exports.tests.dedupe = function(test, common) {
       t.end();
     });
   });
+
+  test('test records with no address except one has postalcode', function(t) {
+    var req = {
+      clean: {
+        size: 20
+      }
+    };
+    var res = {
+      data: onlyPostalcodeDiffersData
+    };
+    var expected = onlyPostalcodeDiffersData[1]; // record with postcode
+
+    dedupe(req, res, function () {
+      t.equal(res.data.length, 1, 'only one result displayed');
+      t.equal(res.data[0], expected, 'record with postalcode is preferred');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
 };