diff --git a/Annex/Content.hs b/Annex/Content.hs
index 39b9d52a7e..86a3a97998 100644
--- a/Annex/Content.hs
+++ b/Annex/Content.hs
@@ -483,9 +483,18 @@ prepSendAnnex key = withObjectLoc key $ \f -> do
 			fastDebug "Annex.Content" ("found no inode cache for " ++ show f)
 			maybeToList <$>
 				withTSDelta (liftIO . genInodeCache f)
-		else do
-			fastDebug "Annex.Content" ("found inode cache for " ++ show f)
-			pure cache
+		-- Verify that the object is not modified. Usually this
+		-- only has to check the inode cache, but if the cache
+		-- is somehow stale, it will fall back to verifying its
+		-- content.
+		else withTSDelta (liftIO . genInodeCache f) >>= \case
+			Just fc -> ifM (isUnmodified' key f fc cache)
+				( do
+					fastDebug "Annex.Content" ("found inode cache for " ++ show f)
+					return (fc:cache)
+				, return []
+				)
+			Nothing -> return []
 	return $ if null cache'
 		then Nothing
 		else Just (fromRawFilePath f, sameInodeCache f cache')
diff --git a/Annex/Content/Presence.hs b/Annex/Content/Presence.hs
index 6d9d158649..b8f4fc635a 100644
--- a/Annex/Content/Presence.hs
+++ b/Annex/Content/Presence.hs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {- git-annex object content presence
  -
- - Copyright 2010-2020 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
+ - Copyright 2010-2021 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
  -
  - Licensed under the GNU AGPL version 3 or higher.
  -}
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ module Annex.Content.Presence (
 	objectFileExists,
 	withObjectLoc,
 	isUnmodified,
+	isUnmodified',
 	isUnmodifiedCheap,
 	verifyKeyContent,
 	VerifyConfig(..),
@@ -145,11 +146,17 @@ withObjectLoc key a = a =<< calcRepo (gitAnnexLocation key)
  - The cheaper way is to see if the InodeCache for the key matches the
  - file. -}
 isUnmodified :: Key -> RawFilePath -> Annex Bool
-isUnmodified key f = go =<< geti
+isUnmodified key f = 
+	withTSDelta (liftIO . genInodeCache f) >>= \case
+		Just fc -> do
+			ic <- Database.Keys.getInodeCaches key
+			isUnmodified' key f fc ic
+		Nothing -> return False
+
+isUnmodified' :: Key -> RawFilePath -> InodeCache -> [InodeCache] -> Annex Bool
+isUnmodified' key f fc ic = isUnmodifiedCheap'' fc ic <||> expensivecheck
   where
-	go Nothing = return False
-	go (Just fc) = isUnmodifiedCheap' key fc <||> expensivecheck fc
-	expensivecheck fc = ifM (verifyKeyContent RetrievalAllKeysSecure AlwaysVerify UnVerified key f)
+	expensivecheck = ifM (verifyKeyContent RetrievalAllKeysSecure AlwaysVerify UnVerified key f)
 		( do
 			-- The file could have been modified while it was
 			-- being verified. Detect that.
@@ -177,8 +184,11 @@ isUnmodifiedCheap key f = maybe (return False) (isUnmodifiedCheap' key)
 	=<< withTSDelta (liftIO . genInodeCache f)
 
 isUnmodifiedCheap' :: Key -> InodeCache -> Annex Bool
-isUnmodifiedCheap' key fc = 
-	anyM (compareInodeCaches fc) =<< Database.Keys.getInodeCaches key
+isUnmodifiedCheap' key fc = isUnmodifiedCheap'' fc
+	=<< Database.Keys.getInodeCaches key
+
+isUnmodifiedCheap'' :: InodeCache -> [InodeCache] -> Annex Bool
+isUnmodifiedCheap'' fc ic = anyM (compareInodeCaches fc) ic
 
 {- Verifies that a file is the expected content of a key.
  -
diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index f48f93483b..3facd20fa1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ git-annex (8.20210715) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
     histories.)
   * sync, merge: Added --allow-unrelated-histories option, which
     is the same as the git merge option.
+  * Fix bug that caused some transfers to incorrectly fail with
+    "content changed while it was being sent", when the content was not
+    changed.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:26:36 -0400
 
diff --git a/doc/bugs/__34__failed_to_send_content_to_remote__34__/comment_19_9a1c92462a5393155298d70ef90d3019._comment b/doc/bugs/__34__failed_to_send_content_to_remote__34__/comment_19_9a1c92462a5393155298d70ef90d3019._comment
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8d43dc8c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/bugs/__34__failed_to_send_content_to_remote__34__/comment_19_9a1c92462a5393155298d70ef90d3019._comment
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[[!comment format=mdwn
+ username="joey"
+ subject="""comment 19"""
+ date="2021-07-26T21:20:15Z"
+ content="""
+I've made it fall back to checking the file's content when the inode cache
+is somehow stale. I expect this will solve the problem. But, I would still
+like to know how to reproduce the problem, because if something is making
+the inode cache go stale, this fallback check will need to hash the file,
+which could make git-annex significantly more expensive.
+"""]]