diff --git a/doc/changelog.dox b/doc/changelog.dox
index e1b297ad7..b4b22f3fe 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.dox
+++ b/doc/changelog.dox
@@ -527,6 +527,17 @@ See also:
     for most shader-related limits
 -   Fixed assertions related to OpenGL driver workarounds when the proprietary
     AMDGPU PRO drivers are used on Linux
+-   Fixed an assertion when using @ref MeshTools::removeDuplicates() on an
+    interleaved @ref Trade::MeshData that included padding at the beginning or
+    end of each vertex
+-   Fixed @ref MeshTools::removeDuplicates() to not take into account random
+    padding bytes and filtered-out attributes in interleaved source
+    @ref Trade::MeshData. This was a particularly glaring issue when using
+    @ref magnum-sceneconverter "magnum-sceneconverter" with both
+    `--only-attributes` and `--remove-duplicates` specified together, where it
+    usually just didn't remove any duplicate whatsoever while
+    `--remove-duplicates-fuzzy` did, no matter how ridiculously low epsilon
+    was used.
 -   @ref Platform::EmscriptenApplication randomly created antialiased contexts
     due to an uninitialized variable in its
     @ref Platform::EmscriptenApplication::GLConfiguration "GLConfiguration"
diff --git a/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.cpp b/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.cpp
index e5581124f..101691e80 100644
--- a/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.cpp
+++ b/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.cpp
@@ -397,13 +397,6 @@ std::size_t removeDuplicatesFuzzyIndexedInPlace(const Containers::StridedArrayVi
 }
 
 Trade::MeshData removeDuplicates(const Trade::MeshData& data) {
-    return removeDuplicates(Trade::MeshData{data.primitive(),
-        {}, data.indexData(), Trade::MeshIndexData{data.indices()},
-        {}, data.vertexData(), Trade::meshAttributeDataNonOwningArray(data.attributeData()),
-        data.vertexCount()});
-}
-
-Trade::MeshData removeDuplicates(Trade::MeshData&& data) {
     CORRADE_ASSERT(data.attributeCount(),
         "MeshTools::removeDuplicates(): can't remove duplicates in an attributeless mesh",
         (Trade::MeshData{MeshPrimitive::Points, 0}));
@@ -418,12 +411,19 @@ Trade::MeshData removeDuplicates(Trade::MeshData&& data) {
 
     /* Turn the passed data into an interleaved owned mutable instance we can
        operate on -- owned() alone only makes the data owned, interleave()
-       alone only makes the data interleaved (but those can stay non-owned).
-       There's a chance the original data are already like this, in which case
-       this will be just a passthrough. */
-    Trade::MeshData ownedInterleaved = owned(interleave(std::move(data)));
-
+       alone only makes the data interleaved (but the index data can stay
+       non-owned). Additionally we need to ensure the interleaved data are
+       tightly packed by removing InterleaveFlag::PreserveInterleavedAttributes
+       which is set by default, otherwise random padding bytes or filtered-out
+       attributes may contribute to the non-uniqueness of particular
+       elements. */
+    Trade::MeshData ownedInterleaved = owned(interleave(data, {}, InterleaveFlags{}));
+
+    /* Because the interleaved mesh was forced to be repacked, the vertex data
+       should span the whole stride -- this is relied on in the attribute
+       rerouting loop below */
     const Containers::StridedArrayView2D<char> vertexData = MeshTools::interleavedMutableData(ownedInterleaved);
+    CORRADE_INTERNAL_ASSERT(vertexData.size()[1] == ownedInterleaved.attributeStride(0));
 
     UnsignedInt uniqueVertexCount;
     Containers::Array<char> indexData;
diff --git a/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.h b/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.h
index 0c1ff9403..78f690183 100644
--- a/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.h
+++ b/src/Magnum/MeshTools/RemoveDuplicates.h
@@ -302,24 +302,13 @@ interleaved and owned, if the input is already interleaved attribute offsets
 and paddings are preserved. All attributes are expected to not have an
 implementation-specific format.
 
-This function unconditionally copies and interleaves passed vertex and index
-data in order to operate on them in-place. If your data is interleaved and
-owned by the instance and you don't need the original data after the process,
-call @ref removeDuplicates(Trade::MeshData&&) instead to avoid the extra copy.
+In order to remove random padding values from the input and make the vertices
+suitable for fast in-place duplicate removal, this function unconditionally
+copies and interleaves the input vertex and index data.
 @see @ref isVertexFormatImplementationSpecific()
 */
 MAGNUM_MESHTOOLS_EXPORT Trade::MeshData removeDuplicates(const Trade::MeshData& data);
 
-/**
-@brief Remove mesh data duplicates
-@m_since{2020,06}
-
-Same as @ref removeDuplicates(const Trade::MeshData&), except that it operates
-in-place on the passed instance, avoiding an extra copy of vertex and index
-data.
-*/
-MAGNUM_MESHTOOLS_EXPORT Trade::MeshData removeDuplicates(Trade::MeshData&& data);
-
 /**
 @brief Remove mesh data duplicates with fuzzy comparison for floating-point attributes
 @m_since{2020,06}