diff --git a/src/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel.cpp b/src/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel.cpp
index 2998808b54..9bdc22b49e 100644
--- a/src/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel.cpp
@@ -138,10 +138,19 @@ void QStandardItemPrivate::setChild(int row, int column, QStandardItem *item,
             return;
         }
     }
+
+    // setting the model to nullptr invalidates the persistent index which we want to avoid
+    if (!item && oldItem)
+        oldItem->d_func()->setModel(nullptr);
+
+    children.replace(index, item);
+
+    // since now indexFromItem() does no longer return a valid index, the persistent index
+    // will not be invalidated anymore
     if (oldItem)
         oldItem->d_func()->setModel(nullptr);
     delete oldItem;
-    children.replace(index, item);
+
     if (item)
         item->d_func()->lastKnownIndex = index;
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel/tst_qstandarditemmodel.cpp b/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel/tst_qstandarditemmodel.cpp
index bc8bc38da6..032f17c0a7 100644
--- a/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel/tst_qstandarditemmodel.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qstandarditemmodel/tst_qstandarditemmodel.cpp
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ private slots:
     void supportedDragDropActions();
 
     void taskQTBUG_45114_setItemData();
+    void setItemPersistentIndex();
 
 private:
     QStandardItemModel *m_model;
@@ -1811,5 +1812,26 @@ void tst_QStandardItemModel::taskQTBUG_45114_setItemData()
     QVERIFY(!itemRoles.keys().contains(Qt::UserRole + 3));
 }
 
+void tst_QStandardItemModel::setItemPersistentIndex()
+{
+    QPersistentModelIndex persistentIndex;
+    // setItem on an already existing item should not destroy the persistent index
+    QStandardItemModel m;
+    persistentIndex = m.index(0, 0);
+    QVERIFY(!persistentIndex.isValid());
+
+    m.setItem(0, 0, new QStandardItem);
+    persistentIndex = m.index(0, 0);
+    QVERIFY(persistentIndex.isValid());
+    QCOMPARE(persistentIndex.row(), 0);
+    QCOMPARE(persistentIndex.column(), 0);
+
+    m.setItem(0, 0, new QStandardItem);
+    QVERIFY(persistentIndex.isValid());
+
+    m.setItem(0, 0, nullptr);
+    QVERIFY(!persistentIndex.isValid());
+}
+
 QTEST_MAIN(tst_QStandardItemModel)
 #include "tst_qstandarditemmodel.moc"