diff --git a/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/ArtifactStateExt.java b/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/ArtifactStateExt.java
index b650d97687..c80b0d53d8 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/ArtifactStateExt.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/storage/ArtifactStateExt.java
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import static io.apicurio.registry.storage.MetaDataKeys.STATE;
-
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 
+import static io.apicurio.registry.storage.MetaDataKeys.STATE;
+
 /**
  * @author Ales Justin
  */
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public class ArtifactStateExt {
         transitions = new HashMap<>();
         transitions.put(ArtifactState.ENABLED, EnumSet.of(ArtifactState.DISABLED, ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, ArtifactState.DELETED));
         transitions.put(ArtifactState.DISABLED, EnumSet.of(ArtifactState.ENABLED, ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, ArtifactState.DELETED));
-        transitions.put(ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, EnumSet.of(ArtifactState.DELETED));
+        transitions.put(ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, EnumSet.of(ArtifactState.ENABLED, ArtifactState.DISABLED, ArtifactState.DELETED));
         transitions.put(ArtifactState.DELETED, EnumSet.noneOf(ArtifactState.class));
     }
 
diff --git a/app/src/test/java/io/apicurio/registry/ArtifactStateTest.java b/app/src/test/java/io/apicurio/registry/ArtifactStateTest.java
index 02b7dbf7fa..3e71cc2ade 100644
--- a/app/src/test/java/io/apicurio/registry/ArtifactStateTest.java
+++ b/app/src/test/java/io/apicurio/registry/ArtifactStateTest.java
@@ -16,19 +16,6 @@
 
 package io.apicurio.registry;
 
-import static io.apicurio.registry.utils.tests.TestUtils.assertWebError;
-import static io.apicurio.registry.utils.tests.TestUtils.retry;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
-
-import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
-import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.util.concurrent.CompletionStage;
-import java.util.function.Supplier;
-
-import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
-
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
-
 import io.apicurio.registry.client.RegistryService;
 import io.apicurio.registry.rest.beans.ArtifactMetaData;
 import io.apicurio.registry.rest.beans.EditableMetaData;
@@ -39,6 +26,17 @@
 import io.apicurio.registry.utils.ConcurrentUtil;
 import io.apicurio.registry.utils.tests.RegistryServiceTest;
 import io.quarkus.test.junit.QuarkusTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+
+import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletionStage;
+import java.util.function.Supplier;
+
+import static io.apicurio.registry.utils.tests.TestUtils.assertWebError;
+import static io.apicurio.registry.utils.tests.TestUtils.retry;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 
 /**
  * @author Ales Justin
@@ -130,11 +128,21 @@ public void testSmoke(Supplier<RegistryService> supplier) throws Exception {
         avr = service.getArtifactVersion(2, artifactId);
         Assertions.assertEquals(200, avr.getStatus());
 
-        // cannot go back from deprecated ...
-        assertWebError(400, () -> service.updateArtifactState(artifactId, toUpdateState(ArtifactState.ENABLED)));
-
         service.updateArtifactMetaData(artifactId, emd); // should be allowed for deprecated
 
+        retry(() -> {
+            service.reset();
+            ArtifactMetaData innerAmd = service.getArtifactMetaData(artifactId);
+            Assertions.assertEquals(3, innerAmd.getVersion());
+            Assertions.assertEquals(description, innerAmd.getDescription());
+            Assertions.assertEquals(ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, innerAmd.getState());
+            return null;
+        });
+
+        // can revert back to enabled from deprecated
+        service.updateArtifactVersionState(3, artifactId, toUpdateState(ArtifactState.ENABLED));
+        this.waitForVersionState(artifactId, 3, ArtifactState.ENABLED);
+
         retry(() -> {
             service.reset();
             ArtifactMetaData innerAmd = service.getArtifactMetaData(artifactId);
@@ -200,4 +208,48 @@ void testEnableDisableArtifact(Supplier<RegistryService> supplier) throws Except
         Assertions.assertEquals(ArtifactState.ENABLED, vmd.getState());
     }
 
+    @RegistryServiceTest
+    void testDeprecateDisableArtifact(Supplier<RegistryService> supplier) throws Exception {
+        RegistryService service = supplier.get();
+        String artifactId = generateArtifactId();
+
+        // Create the artifact
+        CompletionStage<ArtifactMetaData> a1 = service.createArtifact(
+            ArtifactType.JSON,
+            artifactId,
+            null,
+            new ByteArrayInputStream("{\"type\": \"string\"}".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
+        );
+        ArtifactMetaData md = ConcurrentUtil.result(a1);
+
+        retry(() -> {
+            // Get the meta-data
+            ArtifactMetaData actualMD = service.getArtifactMetaData(artifactId);
+            assertEquals(md.getGlobalId(), actualMD.getGlobalId());
+        });
+
+        // Set to deprecated
+        UpdateState state = new UpdateState();
+        state.setState(ArtifactState.DEPRECATED);
+        service.updateArtifactState(artifactId, state);
+        this.waitForArtifactState(artifactId, ArtifactState.DEPRECATED);
+
+        retry(() -> {
+            // Get the meta-data again - should be DEPRECATED
+            ArtifactMetaData actualMD = service.getArtifactMetaData(artifactId);
+            assertEquals(md.getGlobalId(), actualMD.getGlobalId());
+            Assertions.assertEquals(ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, actualMD.getState());
+        });
+
+        // Set to disabled
+        state.setState(ArtifactState.DISABLED);
+        service.updateArtifactState(artifactId, state);
+        this.waitForArtifactState(artifactId, ArtifactState.DISABLED);
+
+        // Get the meta-data again - should be a 404
+        assertWebError(404, () -> service.getArtifactMetaData(artifactId), true);
+        VersionMetaData vmd = service.getArtifactVersionMetaData(md.getVersion(), artifactId);
+        Assertions.assertEquals(ArtifactState.DISABLED, vmd.getState());
+    }
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/storage/asyncmem/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/asyncmem/AsyncInMemoryRegistryStorage.java b/storage/asyncmem/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/asyncmem/AsyncInMemoryRegistryStorage.java
index 986b4afffa..128038e7e2 100644
--- a/storage/asyncmem/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/asyncmem/AsyncInMemoryRegistryStorage.java
+++ b/storage/asyncmem/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/asyncmem/AsyncInMemoryRegistryStorage.java
@@ -226,9 +226,6 @@ public void updateArtifactMetaData(String artifactId, EditableArtifactMetaDataDt
      */
     @Override
     public void updateArtifactState(String artifactId, ArtifactState state, Integer version) {
-        if (state == ArtifactState.ENABLED && this.isDeprecated(artifactId, version)) {
-            throw new InvalidArtifactStateException(ArtifactState.DEPRECATED, state);
-        }
         this.executor.execute(() -> {
             preUpdateSleep();
             runWithErrorSuppression(() -> {
@@ -519,36 +516,6 @@ private boolean hasArtifactRule(String artifactId, RuleType rule) {
         }
     }
 
-    private boolean isArtifactDeprecated(String artifactId) {
-        try {
-            ArtifactMetaDataDto metaData = this.getArtifactMetaData(artifactId);
-            if (metaData.getState() == ArtifactState.DEPRECATED) {
-                return true;
-            }
-        } catch (ArtifactNotFoundException | RegistryStorageException e) {
-        }
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    private boolean isVersionDeprecated(String artifactId, Integer version) {
-        try {
-            ArtifactVersionMetaDataDto metaData = this.getArtifactVersionMetaData(artifactId, version.longValue());
-            if (metaData.getState() == ArtifactState.DEPRECATED) {
-                return true;
-            }
-        } catch (ArtifactNotFoundException | RegistryStorageException e) {
-        }
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    private boolean isDeprecated(String artifactId, Integer version) {
-        if (version == null) {
-            return this.isArtifactDeprecated(artifactId);
-        } else {
-            return this.isVersionDeprecated(artifactId, version);
-        }
-    }
-
     private void preDeleteSleep() {
         doSleep(this.deleteDelay);
     }