diff --git a/src/hnswutils.c b/src/hnswutils.c
index f4e4d82..896e66d 100644
--- a/src/hnswutils.c
+++ b/src/hnswutils.c
@@ -546,6 +546,9 @@ HnswLoadElementImpl(BlockNumber blkno, OffsetNumber offno, double *distance, Hns
 
 	Assert(HnswIsElementTuple(etup));
 
+	if (unlikely(etup->deleted))
+		elog(ERROR, "cannot load deleted element");
+
 	/* Calculate distance */
 	if (distance != NULL)
 	{