diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/edit_coverage_interop.rs b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/edit_coverage_interop.rs
index 332dffa..839e32c 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/edit_coverage_interop.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5-tools/tests/edit_coverage_interop.rs
@@ -1396,3 +1396,57 @@ fn freed_space_is_reused_within_a_session() {
     );
     assert!(fresh.1 > fresh.0, "without reuse the file grows");
 }
+
+/// Replacing the last huge attribute (larger than the heap's managed
+/// limit) of an object with a small one deletes the heap's huge-object
+/// B-tree, as libhdf5 does when it closes the heap (`H5HF__huge_term`). A
+/// heap left with an empty huge-object B-tree made read-only libhdf5 fail
+/// to list the attributes ("no write intent on file").
+#[test]
+fn last_huge_attribute_replaced() {
+    if !tools_ok() {
+        return;
+    }
+    let dir = tmpdir();
+    let a = dir.path().join("huge_h5py.h5");
+    let b = dir.path().join("huge_edit.h5");
+    for p in [&a, &b] {
+        py(&format!(
+            "import h5py, numpy as np\n\
+             with h5py.File({p:?}, 'w', libver='v110') as f:\n\
+             \x20   g = f.create_group('g')\n\
+             \x20   for i in range(10): g.attrs.create(f'k{{i}}', np.array([i], dtype='<i8'))\n\
+             \x20   g.attrs.create('big', np.bytes_('h' * 6000))\n",
+            p = p.to_str().unwrap()
+        ));
+    }
+    py(&format!(
+        "import h5py, numpy as np\n\
+         with h5py.File({p:?}, 'r+') as f:\n\
+         \x20   f['g'].attrs.create('big', np.array([1, 2], dtype='<i8'))\n",
+        p = a.to_str().unwrap()
+    ));
+    let mut ed = FileEditor::open(&b).unwrap();
+    ed.set_attr("g", "big", &clawhdf5::AttrValue::I64Array(vec![1, 2]))
+        .unwrap();
+    drop(ed);
+    check_tools(&b, true);
+    let mut want: Vec<AttrOp> = (0..10i64)
+        .map(|i| ("g".to_string(), format!("k{i}"), AV::Ints(vec![i])))
+        .collect();
+    want.push(("g".into(), "big".into(), AV::Ints(vec![1, 2])));
+    check_attr_values(&b, &want);
+    let info = |p: &Path| {
+        let s = dense_info(p, "g");
+        s[..s.find(" fs ").or(s.find(" no-fs")).unwrap()].to_string()
+    };
+    assert_eq!(info(&b), info(&a), "heap after the replacement");
+    // A huge attribute again starts the huge-object B-tree over.
+    let mut ed = FileEditor::open(&b).unwrap();
+    ed.set_attr("g", "big2", &clawhdf5::AttrValue::String("x".repeat(7000)))
+        .unwrap();
+    drop(ed);
+    want.push(("g".into(), "big2".into(), AV::Str("x".repeat(7000))));
+    check_tools(&b, true);
+    check_attr_values(&b, &want);
+}
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/btree2.rs b/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/btree2.rs
index 5761e1e..71bd9b2 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/btree2.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/btree2.rs
@@ -384,6 +384,32 @@ impl Bt2 {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Delete the whole tree (`H5B2_delete`): every node and the header go
+    /// to the image's free list.
+    pub(crate) fn delete(mut self, img: &mut Image<'_>) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        if self.root.addr != undef(img.os) && self.root.nrec > 0 {
+            let mut level = vec![self.root];
+            let mut depth = self.depth;
+            loop {
+                let mut next = Vec::new();
+                for p in level {
+                    self.load(img, p, depth)?;
+                    if depth > 0 {
+                        next.extend(self.peek(p.addr).ptrs.iter().copied());
+                    }
+                    img.free(p.addr, u64::from(self.node_size));
+                }
+                if depth == 0 {
+                    break;
+                }
+                depth -= 1;
+                level = next;
+            }
+        }
+        img.free(self.addr, Self::header_len(img.os, img.ls) as u64);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Insert `rec`, or replace the record `cmp` matches (`H5B2_update`).
     pub(crate) fn update(
         &mut self,
diff --git a/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/fheap.rs b/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/fheap.rs
index 2fab657..03e6b1e 100644
--- a/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/fheap.rs
+++ b/crates/clawhdf5/src/edit/fheap.rs
@@ -948,6 +948,15 @@ impl Heap {
                 img.free(get_uint(&rec, os), len);
                 self.huge_size = self.huge_size.saturating_sub(len);
                 self.huge_nobjs = self.huge_nobjs.saturating_sub(1);
+                // H5HF__huge_term: with no huge object left, the huge-object
+                // B-tree is deleted and IDs start over (libhdf5 does it when
+                // it closes the heap, and a read-only libhdf5 fails to).
+                if self.huge_nobjs == 0 {
+                    t.delete(img)?;
+                    self.huge_bt2 = undef(os);
+                    self.next_huge_id = 0;
+                    self.flags &= !0x01;
+                }
                 Ok(())
             }
             _ => Err(unsupported("tiny objects")),