diff --git a/hts.c b/hts.c
index c79d92d993..66b8643e80 100644
--- a/hts.c
+++ b/hts.c
@@ -3077,16 +3077,14 @@ hts_itr_t *hts_itr_query(const hts_idx_t *idx, int tid, hts_pos_t beg, hts_pos_t
                 free(iter);
                 iter = NULL;
             }
+        } else if (tid >= idx->n || (bidx = idx->bidx[tid]) == NULL) {
+            iter->finished = 1;
         } else {
             if (beg < 0) beg = 0;
             if (end < beg) {
               free(iter);
               return NULL;
             }
-            if (tid >= idx->n || (bidx = idx->bidx[tid]) == NULL) {
-              free(iter);
-              return NULL;
-            }
 
             k = kh_get(bin, bidx, META_BIN(idx));
             if (k != kh_end(bidx))
diff --git a/test/modhdr.expected.vcf b/test/modhdr.expected.vcf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bad663c7ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/modhdr.expected.vcf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+##fileformat=VCFv4.3
+##FILTER=<ID=PASS,Description="All filters passed">
+##contig=<ID=chr22,length=51304566>
+#CHROM	POS	ID	REF	ALT	QUAL	FILTER	INFO
diff --git a/test/modhdr.vcf.gz b/test/modhdr.vcf.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f97e06ab3d
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/modhdr.vcf.gz differ
diff --git a/test/modhdr.vcf.gz.csi b/test/modhdr.vcf.gz.csi
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..61b60e79ae
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/modhdr.vcf.gz.csi differ
diff --git a/test/test.pl b/test/test.pl
index fc6036f60b..c40d58c57b 100755
--- a/test/test.pl
+++ b/test/test.pl
@@ -947,6 +947,11 @@ sub test_vcf_various
         cmd => "$$opts{bin}/htsfile -c $$opts{path}/formatmissing.vcf");
     test_cmd($opts, %args, out => "vcf_meta_meta.vcf",
         cmd => "$$opts{bin}/htsfile -c $$opts{path}/vcf_meta_meta.vcf");
+
+    # VCF file with contig IDX=1, simulating an edited BCF file
+    # See htslib issue 1534
+    test_cmd($opts, %args, out => "modhdr.expected.vcf",
+	cmd => "$$opts{path}/test_view $$opts{path}/modhdr.vcf.gz chr22:1-2");
 }
 
 sub write_multiblock_bgzf {
diff --git a/test/test_view.c b/test/test_view.c
index 416ffe98db..f33c1cdf02 100644
--- a/test/test_view.c
+++ b/test/test_view.c
@@ -224,7 +224,8 @@ int vcf_loop(int argc, char **argv, int optind, struct opts *opts, htsFile *in,
             hts_itr_t *iter;
             if ((iter = bcf_itr_querys(idx, h, argv[i])) == 0) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "[E::%s] fail to parse region '%s'\n", __func__, argv[i]);
-                continue;
+                exit_code = 1;
+                break;
             }
             while ((r = bcf_itr_next(in, iter, b)) >= 0) {
                 if (!opts->benchmark && bcf_write1(out, h, b) < 0) {