diff --git a/src/libpriv/rpmostree-core.c b/src/libpriv/rpmostree-core.c
index 9a06e843cf..030d3b2e5e 100644
--- a/src/libpriv/rpmostree-core.c
+++ b/src/libpriv/rpmostree-core.c
@@ -2059,7 +2059,7 @@ rpmostree_context_prepare (RpmOstreeContext *self,
         return FALSE;
 
       /* build a packageset from it */
-      DnfPackageSet *locked_pset = dnf_packageset_new (sack);
+      g_autoptr(DnfPackageSet) locked_pset = dnf_packageset_new (sack);
       for (guint i = 0; i < locked_pkgs->len; i++)
         dnf_packageset_add (locked_pset, locked_pkgs->pdata[i]);
 
@@ -2069,12 +2069,11 @@ rpmostree_context_prepare (RpmOstreeContext *self,
            * exclude everything else. Note we still don't directly do `hy_goal_install`
            * here; we want the treefile to still be canonical, but we just make sure that
            * the end result matches what we expect. */
-          DnfPackageSet *pset = dnf_packageset_new (sack);
+          g_autoptr(DnfPackageSet) pset = dnf_packageset_new (sack);
           Map *map = dnf_packageset_get_map (pset);
           map_setall (map);
           map_subtract (map, dnf_packageset_get_map (locked_pset));
           dnf_sack_add_excludes (sack, pset);
-          dnf_packageset_free (pset);
         }
       else
         {
@@ -2086,11 +2085,10 @@ rpmostree_context_prepare (RpmOstreeContext *self,
               const char *repo = *it;
               hy_autoquery HyQuery query = hy_query_create (sack);
               hy_query_filter (query, HY_PKG_REPONAME, HY_EQ, repo);
-              DnfPackageSet *pset = hy_query_run_set (query);
+              g_autoptr(DnfPackageSet) pset = hy_query_run_set (query);
               Map *map = dnf_packageset_get_map (pset);
               map_subtract (map, dnf_packageset_get_map (locked_pset));
               dnf_sack_add_excludes (sack, pset);
-              dnf_packageset_free (pset);
             }
 
           /* In relaxed mode, we allow packages to be added or removed without having to
@@ -2099,7 +2097,7 @@ rpmostree_context_prepare (RpmOstreeContext *self,
            * filter out from the sack all pkgs which don't match. */
 
           /* map of all packages with names found in the lockfile */
-          DnfPackageSet *named_pkgs = dnf_packageset_new (sack);
+          g_autoptr(DnfPackageSet) named_pkgs = dnf_packageset_new (sack);
           Map *named_pkgs_map = dnf_packageset_get_map (named_pkgs);
           GLNX_HASH_TABLE_FOREACH (self->vlockmap, const char*, nevra)
             {
@@ -2108,18 +2106,19 @@ rpmostree_context_prepare (RpmOstreeContext *self,
                 return FALSE;
               hy_autoquery HyQuery query = hy_query_create (sack);
               hy_query_filter (query, HY_PKG_NAME, HY_EQ, name);
-              DnfPackageSet *pset = hy_query_run_set (query);
+              g_autoptr(DnfPackageSet) pset = hy_query_run_set (query);
               map_or (named_pkgs_map, dnf_packageset_get_map (pset));
-              dnf_packageset_free (pset);
             }
 
           /* remove our locked packages from the exclusion set */
           map_subtract (named_pkgs_map, dnf_packageset_get_map (locked_pset));
           dnf_sack_add_excludes (sack, named_pkgs);
-          dnf_packageset_free (named_pkgs);
-        }
 
-      dnf_packageset_free (locked_pset);
+          /* Additionally, we want libsolv to favor locked packages when choosing between
+           * alternatives. */
+          for (guint i = 0; i < locked_pkgs->len; i++)
+            hy_goal_favor (goal, locked_pkgs->pdata[i]);
+        }
     }
 
   /* Process excludes */
@@ -2128,9 +2127,8 @@ rpmostree_context_prepare (RpmOstreeContext *self,
       const char *pkgname = *iter;
       hy_autoquery HyQuery query = hy_query_create (sack);
       hy_query_filter (query, HY_PKG_NAME, HY_EQ, pkgname);
-      DnfPackageSet *pset = hy_query_run_set (query);
+      g_autoptr(DnfPackageSet) pset = hy_query_run_set (query);
       dnf_sack_add_excludes (sack, pset);
-      dnf_packageset_free (pset);
     }
 
   /* First, handle packages to remove */
diff --git a/tests/compose/test-lockfile.sh b/tests/compose/test-lockfile.sh
index 3a6a30da1a..c2a552e679 100755
--- a/tests/compose/test-lockfile.sh
+++ b/tests/compose/test-lockfile.sh
@@ -81,6 +81,30 @@ assert_file_has_content out.txt 'test-pkg-common-1.0-1.x86_64'
 assert_not_file_has_content out.txt 'another-test-pkg'
 echo "ok relaxed mode can remove pkg"
 
+# check that we prefer locked packages over unlocked ones to minimize the diff
+build_rpm dodo requires dodo-dep
+build_rpm dodo-dep-a provides dodo-dep
+build_rpm dodo-dep-b provides dodo-dep
+cat > override.lock <<EOF
+{
+  "packages": {
+    "dodo-dep-b": {
+      "evra": "1.0-1.x86_64"
+    }
+  }
+}
+EOF
+treefile_append "packages" '["dodo"]'
+runcompose \
+  --ex-lockfile="$PWD/versions.lock" \
+  --ex-lockfile="$PWD/override.lock" \
+  --dry-run "${treefile}" |& tee out.txt
+assert_file_has_content out.txt 'dodo-1.0-1.x86_64'
+assert_file_has_content out.txt 'dodo-dep-b-1.0-1.x86_64'
+assert_not_file_has_content out.txt 'dodo-dep-a-1.0-1.x86_64'
+echo "ok relaxed mode prefer locked pkg"
+treefile_remove "packages" '"dodo"'
+
 # test strict mode
 
 # sanity-check that refeeding the output lockfile as input satisfies strict mode