diff --git a/src/selection.cc b/src/selection.cc
index a2c53b59..43f47090 100644
--- a/src/selection.cc
+++ b/src/selection.cc
@@ -10,10 +10,6 @@ namespace Kakoune
 void Selection::merge_with(const Selection& other)
 {
     m_cursor = other.m_cursor;
-    if (m_anchor < m_cursor)
-        m_anchor = std::min(m_anchor, other.m_anchor);
-    if (m_anchor > m_cursor)
-        m_anchor = std::max(m_anchor, other.m_anchor);
 }
 
 SelectionList::SelectionList(Buffer& buffer, Selection s, size_t timestamp)
diff --git a/test/normal/find-char-backward-extending/selections b/test/normal/find-char-backward-extending/selections
index cecd2dec..8e85b581 100644
--- a/test/normal/find-char-backward-extending/selections
+++ b/test/normal/find-char-backward-extending/selections
@@ -1 +1 @@
-|bar
+|b
diff --git a/test/normal/object/start-extending/braces/selections b/test/normal/object/start-extending/braces/selections
index 6e365bec..5a948a11 100644
--- a/test/normal/object/start-extending/braces/selections
+++ b/test/normal/object/start-extending/braces/selections
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 {
-  "foo
+  "f
diff --git a/test/normal/object/start-extending/brackets/selections b/test/normal/object/start-extending/brackets/selections
index a42eb4eb..126b0c8b 100644
--- a/test/normal/object/start-extending/brackets/selections
+++ b/test/normal/object/start-extending/brackets/selections
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 [
-  "foo
+  "f
diff --git a/test/normal/object/start-extending/sentence/selections b/test/normal/object/start-extending/sentence/selections
index 837b6bb4..27e4da30 100644
--- a/test/normal/object/start-extending/sentence/selections
+++ b/test/normal/object/start-extending/sentence/selections
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor
-incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua
+incididunt ut labore et d
diff --git a/test/normal/to-char-backward-extending/selections b/test/normal/to-char-backward-extending/selections
index cecd2dec..8e85b581 100644
--- a/test/normal/to-char-backward-extending/selections
+++ b/test/normal/to-char-backward-extending/selections
@@ -1 +1 @@
-|bar
+|b