diff --git a/server/storage/rethink_realdb_test.go b/server/storage/rethink_realdb_test.go
index 56983897b..964025fb4 100644
--- a/server/storage/rethink_realdb_test.go
+++ b/server/storage/rethink_realdb_test.go
@@ -112,14 +112,23 @@ func TestRethinkUpdateCurrentEmpty(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // UpdateCurrent will add a new TUF file if the version is higher than previous, but fail
-// if the version is equal to or less than the current, whether or not that previous
-// version exists
-func TestRethinkUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t *testing.T) {
+// if the version already exists in the DB
+func TestRethinkUpdateCurrentVersionCheckOldVersionExists(t *testing.T) {
+	dbStore, cleanup := rethinkDBSetup(t)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t, dbStore, true)
+}
+
+// UpdateCurrent will add a new TUF file if the version is higher than previous, but fail
+// if the version is lower than an existing version in the DB, but does not actually
+// correspond to one that already does exists in the DB
+func TestRethinkUpdateCurrentVersionCheckOldVersionNotExist(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Skip("Currently rethink only errors if the previous version exists - it doesn't check for strictly increasing")
 	dbStore, cleanup := rethinkDBSetup(t)
 	defer cleanup()
 
-	testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t, dbStore)
+	testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t, dbStore, false)
 }
 
 // UpdateMany succeeds if the updates do not conflict with each other or with what's
diff --git a/server/storage/sqldb_test.go b/server/storage/sqldb_test.go
index 82e030e75..fed9c712f 100644
--- a/server/storage/sqldb_test.go
+++ b/server/storage/sqldb_test.go
@@ -76,14 +76,27 @@ func TestSQLUpdateCurrentEmpty(t *testing.T) {
 	dbStore.DB.Close()
 }
 
-// TestSQLUpdateCurrentNewVersion asserts that UpdateCurrent will add a
+// TestSQLUpdateCurrentVersionCheckOldVersionExists asserts that UpdateCurrent will add a
 // new (higher) version of an existing TUF file, and that an error is raised if
-// trying to update to an older version of a TUF file.
-func TestSQLUpdateCurrentNewVersion(t *testing.T) {
+// trying to update to an older version of a TUF file that already exists.
+func TestSQLUpdateCurrentVersionCheckOldVersionExists(t *testing.T) {
 	dbStore, cleanup := sqldbSetup(t)
 	defer cleanup()
 
-	expected := testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t, dbStore)
+	expected := testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t, dbStore, true)
+	assertExpectedGormTUFMeta(t, expected, dbStore.DB)
+
+	dbStore.DB.Close()
+}
+
+// TestSQLUpdateCurrentVersionCheckOldVersionNotExist asserts that UpdateCurrent will add a
+// new (higher) version of an existing TUF file, and that an error is raised if
+// trying to update to an older version of a TUF file that doesn't exist in the DB.
+func TestSQLUpdateCurrentVersionCheckOldVersionNotExist(t *testing.T) {
+	dbStore, cleanup := sqldbSetup(t)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	expected := testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t, dbStore, false)
 	assertExpectedGormTUFMeta(t, expected, dbStore.DB)
 
 	dbStore.DB.Close()
diff --git a/server/storage/storage_test.go b/server/storage/storage_test.go
index 566450db3..9bc6d0cbb 100644
--- a/server/storage/storage_test.go
+++ b/server/storage/storage_test.go
@@ -91,8 +91,9 @@ func testUpdateCurrentEmptyStore(t *testing.T, s MetaStore) []StoredTUFMeta {
 }
 
 // UpdateCurrent will successfully add a new (higher) version of an existing TUF file,
-// but will return an error if there is an older version of a TUF file.
-func testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t *testing.T, s MetaStore) []StoredTUFMeta {
+// but will return an error if there is an older version of a TUF file.  oldVersionExists
+// specifies whether the older version should already exist in the DB or not.
+func testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t *testing.T, s MetaStore, oldVersionExists bool) []StoredTUFMeta {
 	role, gun := data.CanonicalRootRole, "testGUN"
 
 	expected := []StoredTUFMeta{
@@ -109,14 +110,17 @@ func testUpdateCurrentVersionCheck(t *testing.T, s MetaStore) []StoredTUFMeta {
 	require.NoError(t, s.UpdateCurrent(gun, MakeUpdate(expected[2])))
 
 	// Inserting a version that already exists, or that is lower than the current version, will fail
-	for _, version := range []int{3, 4} {
-		tufObj := SampleCustomTUFObj(gun, role, version, nil)
-		err := s.UpdateCurrent(gun, MakeUpdate(tufObj))
-		require.Error(t, err, "Error should not be nil")
-		require.IsType(t, &ErrOldVersion{}, err,
-			"Expected ErrOldVersion error type, got: %v", err)
+	version := 3
+	if oldVersionExists {
+		version = 4
 	}
 
+	tufObj := SampleCustomTUFObj(gun, role, version, nil)
+	err := s.UpdateCurrent(gun, MakeUpdate(tufObj))
+	require.Error(t, err, "Error should not be nil")
+	require.IsType(t, &ErrOldVersion{}, err,
+		"Expected ErrOldVersion error type, got: %v", err)
+
 	assertExpectedTUFMetaInStore(t, s, expected[:2], false)
 	assertExpectedTUFMetaInStore(t, s, expected[2:], true)
 	return expected