diff --git a/docs/reference/modifiers/envelope.md b/docs/reference/modifiers/envelope.md
index 0e101cf6..fa9d4a85 100644
--- a/docs/reference/modifiers/envelope.md
+++ b/docs/reference/modifiers/envelope.md
@@ -7,10 +7,13 @@ to specify 1:N mappings. This allows, for example, implementing mailing lists.
 The address is normalized before lookup (Punycode in domain-part is decoded,
 Unicode is normalized to NFC, the whole string is case-folded).
 
-First, the whole address is looked up. If there is no replacement, local-part
-of the address is looked up separately and is replaced in the address while
-keeping the domain part intact. Replacements are not applied recursively, that
-is, lookup is not repeated for the replacement.
+First, the whole address is looked up. If there is no replacement, or the
+lookup returns exactly one value equal to that normalized address, the
+local-part is looked up separately and replaced while the domain part is kept
+intact. An explicit identity mapping of the whole address is that same
+unchanged result, so it cannot suppress a relative alias. Any other exact
+result is used as-is. Replacements are not applied recursively, that is,
+lookup is not repeated for the replacement.
 
 Recipients are not deduplicated after expansion, so message may be delivered
 multiple times to a single recipient. However, used delivery target can apply
diff --git a/internal/modify/replace_addr.go b/internal/modify/replace_addr.go
index 7b3e9842..db226576 100644
--- a/internal/modify/replace_addr.go
+++ b/internal/modify/replace_addr.go
@@ -110,6 +110,17 @@ func (r *replaceAddr) rewrite(ctx context.Context, val string) ([]string, error)
 	if err != nil {
 		return []string{val}, err
 	}
+
+	mbox, domain, splitErr := address.Split(normAddr)
+	// An unchanged singleton is not an exact replacement. table.chain optional
+	// steps echo the lookup key on a miss, and an explicit identity mapping of
+	// the whole address is the same result; either way a relative alias still
+	// applies. Any other exact result is returned as-is and is not rewritten
+	// again. Domain-less postmaster is its own local-part, so that echo stays
+	// on the exact path instead of being joined with an empty domain.
+	if splitErr == nil && domain != "" && len(replacements) == 1 && replacements[0] == normAddr {
+		replacements = nil
+	}
 	if len(replacements) > 0 {
 		for _, replacement := range replacements {
 			if !address.Valid(replacement) {
@@ -119,8 +130,7 @@ func (r *replaceAddr) rewrite(ctx context.Context, val string) ([]string, error)
 		return replacements, nil
 	}
 
-	mbox, domain, err := address.Split(normAddr)
-	if err != nil {
+	if splitErr != nil {
 		// If we have malformed address here, something is really wrong, but let's
 		// ignore it silently then anyway.
 		return []string{val}, nil
diff --git a/internal/modify/replace_addr_test.go b/internal/modify/replace_addr_test.go
index 35ebbb2e..989900fc 100644
--- a/internal/modify/replace_addr_test.go
+++ b/internal/modify/replace_addr_test.go
@@ -97,6 +97,13 @@ func testReplaceAddr(t *testing.T, modName string) {
 			"\u00E9@foo.example.com": []string{"rcpt@foo.example.com"},
 		})
 
+	// An unchanged exact result still allows a relative alias.
+	test("cat@example.org", []string{"dog@example.org"},
+		map[string][]string{
+			"cat@example.org": []string{"cat@example.org"},
+			"cat":             []string{"dog"},
+		})
+
 	if modName == "modify.replace_rcpt" {
 		//multiple aliases
 		test("test@example.com", []string{"test@example.org", "test@example.net"},