diff --git a/docs/src/content/docs/changelog/v0.34.4.md b/docs/src/content/docs/changelog/v0.34.4.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ff63571
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/src/content/docs/changelog/v0.34.4.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+title: v0.34.4 - TBD
+slug: changelog/v0.34.4
+---
+
+* Ensure `autoOrient` removes existing metadata after shrink-on-load.
+  [#4431](https://github.com/lovell/sharp/issues/4431)
diff --git a/src/pipeline.cc b/src/pipeline.cc
index 3aa526f3..cd4b468c 100644
--- a/src/pipeline.cc
+++ b/src/pipeline.cc
@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ class PipelineWorker : public Napi::AsyncWorker {
       if (baton->input->autoOrient) {
         // Rotate and flip image according to Exif orientation
         std::tie(autoRotation, autoFlip, autoFlop) = CalculateExifRotationAndFlip(sharp::ExifOrientation(image));
-        image = sharp::RemoveExifOrientation(image);
       }
 
       rotation = CalculateAngleRotation(baton->angle);
@@ -294,6 +293,9 @@ class PipelineWorker : public Napi::AsyncWorker {
           throw vips::VError("Input SVG image exceeds 32767x32767 pixel limit");
         }
       }
+      if (baton->input->autoOrient) {
+        image = sharp::RemoveExifOrientation(image);
+      }
 
       // Any pre-shrinking may already have been done
       inputWidth = image.width();
diff --git a/test/unit/raw.js b/test/unit/raw.js
index 9a01d0f0..4385288c 100644
--- a/test/unit/raw.js
+++ b/test/unit/raw.js
@@ -322,8 +322,6 @@ describe('Raw pixel data', function () {
       .gif({ keepDuplicateFrames: true })
       .toBuffer();
 
-    console.log(await sharp(gif).metadata());
-
     const { width, height, pages, delay } = await sharp(gif).metadata();
     assert.strictEqual(width, 1);
     assert.strictEqual(height, 1);
diff --git a/test/unit/rotate.js b/test/unit/rotate.js
index 7c317550..218f4f99 100644
--- a/test/unit/rotate.js
+++ b/test/unit/rotate.js
@@ -635,6 +635,19 @@ describe('Rotation', function () {
     assert.strictEqual(height, 6);
   });
 
+  it('Shrink-on-load with autoOrient', async () => {
+    const data = await sharp(fixtures.inputJpgWithLandscapeExif6)
+      .resize(8)
+      .autoOrient()
+      .avif({ effort: 0 })
+      .toBuffer();
+
+    const { width, height, orientation } = await sharp(data).metadata();
+    assert.strictEqual(width, 8);
+    assert.strictEqual(height, 6);
+    assert.strictEqual(orientation, undefined);
+  });
+
   it('Invalid autoOrient throws', () =>
     assert.throws(
       () => sharp({ autoOrient: 'fail' }),