diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessor.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessor.java
index 8d0866b9b159..d6603e3fad6c 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessor.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessor.java
@@ -104,19 +104,6 @@ private void postProcessWithRegistry(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory
 		}
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Copy certain details of a {@link BeanDefinition} to the definition created by
-	 * this processor for a given {@link OverrideMetadata}.
-	 * <p>The default implementation copies the {@linkplain BeanDefinition#isPrimary()
-	 * primary flag}, @{@linkplain BeanDefinition#isFallback() fallback flag}
-	 * and the {@linkplain BeanDefinition#getScope() scope}.
-	 */
-	protected void copyBeanDefinitionDetails(BeanDefinition from, RootBeanDefinition to) {
-		to.setPrimary(from.isPrimary());
-		to.setFallback(from.isFallback());
-		to.setScope(from.getScope());
-	}
-
 	private void registerBeanOverride(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory, BeanDefinitionRegistry registry,
 			OverrideMetadata overrideMetadata) {
 
@@ -132,6 +119,8 @@ private void registerBeanOverride(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory, B
 	private void registerReplaceDefinition(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory, BeanDefinitionRegistry registry,
 			OverrideMetadata overrideMetadata, boolean enforceExistingDefinition) {
 
+		// The following is a "dummy" bean definition which should not be used to
+		// create an actual bean instance.
 		RootBeanDefinition beanDefinition = createBeanDefinition(overrideMetadata);
 		String beanName = overrideMetadata.getBeanName();
 		String beanNameIncludingFactory;
@@ -157,22 +146,27 @@ else if (enforceExistingDefinition) {
 			beanNameIncludingFactory = beanName;
 		}
 
+		// Process existing bean definition.
 		if (existingBeanDefinition != null) {
-			copyBeanDefinitionDetails(existingBeanDefinition, beanDefinition);
+			copyBeanDefinitionProperties(existingBeanDefinition, beanDefinition);
 			registry.removeBeanDefinition(beanName);
 		}
+
+		// At this point, we either removed an existing bean definition above, or
+		// there was no bean definition to begin with. So, we register the dummy bean
+		// definition to ensure that a bean definition exists for the given bean name.
 		registry.registerBeanDefinition(beanName, beanDefinition);
 
 		Object override = overrideMetadata.createOverride(beanName, existingBeanDefinition, null);
+		overrideMetadata.track(override, beanFactory);
+		this.overrideRegistrar.registerNameForMetadata(overrideMetadata, beanNameIncludingFactory);
+
 		if (beanFactory.isSingleton(beanNameIncludingFactory)) {
-			// Now we have an instance (the override) that we can register.
-			// At this stage we don't expect a singleton instance to be present,
-			// and this call will throw if there is such an instance already.
+			// Now we have an instance (the override) that we can register. At this
+			// stage we don't expect a singleton instance to be present, and this call
+			// will throw an exception if there is such an instance already.
 			beanFactory.registerSingleton(beanName, override);
 		}
-
-		overrideMetadata.track(override, beanFactory);
-		this.overrideRegistrar.registerNameForMetadata(overrideMetadata, beanNameIncludingFactory);
 	}
 
 	private String getBeanNameForType(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory, BeanDefinitionRegistry registry,
@@ -231,13 +225,6 @@ private void registerWrapBean(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory, Overr
 		this.overrideRegistrar.registerNameForMetadata(metadata, beanName);
 	}
 
-	RootBeanDefinition createBeanDefinition(OverrideMetadata metadata) {
-		RootBeanDefinition definition = new RootBeanDefinition(metadata.getBeanType().resolve());
-		definition.setTargetType(metadata.getBeanType());
-		definition.setQualifiedElement(metadata.getField());
-		return definition;
-	}
-
 	private Set<String> getExistingBeanNamesByType(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory beanFactory, OverrideMetadata metadata,
 			boolean checkAutowiredCandidate) {
 
@@ -272,6 +259,26 @@ private Set<String> getExistingBeanNamesByType(ConfigurableListableBeanFactory b
 	}
 
 
+	private static RootBeanDefinition createBeanDefinition(OverrideMetadata metadata) {
+		RootBeanDefinition definition = new RootBeanDefinition(metadata.getBeanType().resolve());
+		definition.setTargetType(metadata.getBeanType());
+		definition.setQualifiedElement(metadata.getField());
+		return definition;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Copy the following properties of the source {@link BeanDefinition} to the
+	 * target: the {@linkplain BeanDefinition#isPrimary() primary flag}, the
+	 * {@linkplain BeanDefinition#isFallback() fallback flag}, and the
+	 * {@linkplain BeanDefinition#getScope() scope}.
+	 */
+	private static void copyBeanDefinitionProperties(BeanDefinition source, RootBeanDefinition target) {
+		target.setPrimary(source.isPrimary());
+		target.setFallback(source.isFallback());
+		target.setScope(source.getScope());
+	}
+
+
 	static class WrapEarlyBeanPostProcessor implements SmartInstantiationAwareBeanPostProcessor,
 			PriorityOrdered {
 
diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessorTests.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessorTests.java
index 719ade2252b0..d6fa2383cf0d 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessorTests.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/bean/override/BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessorTests.java
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
  *
  * @author Simon Baslé
  * @author Stephane Nicoll
+ * @author Sam Brannen
  */
 class BeanOverrideBeanFactoryPostProcessorTests {
 
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ void postProcessorShouldNotTriggerEarlyInitialization() {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void allowReplaceDefinitionWhenSingletonDefinitionPresent() {
+	void replaceBeanByNameWithMatchingBeanDefinitionWithExplicitSingletonScope() {
 		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext context = createContext(CaseByName.class);
 		RootBeanDefinition definition = new RootBeanDefinition(String.class, () -> "ORIGINAL");
 		definition.setScope(BeanDefinition.SCOPE_SINGLETON);
@@ -212,7 +213,7 @@ void allowReplaceDefinitionWhenSingletonDefinitionPresent() {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void copyDefinitionPrimaryFallbackAndScope() {
+	void replaceBeanByNameWithMatchingBeanDefinitionRetainsPrimaryFallbackAndScopeProperties() {
 		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext context = createContext(CaseByName.class);
 		context.getBeanFactory().registerScope("customScope", new SimpleThreadScope());
 		RootBeanDefinition definition = new RootBeanDefinition(String.class, () -> "ORIGINAL");
@@ -232,22 +233,22 @@ void copyDefinitionPrimaryFallbackAndScope() {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void createDefinitionShouldSetQualifierElement() {
+	void qualifiedElementIsSetToBeanOverrideField() {
 		AnnotationConfigApplicationContext context = createContext(CaseByNameWithQualifier.class);
 		context.registerBeanDefinition("descriptionBean", new RootBeanDefinition(String.class, () -> "ORIGINAL"));
 
 		assertThatNoException().isThrownBy(context::refresh);
 		assertThat(context.getBeanDefinition("descriptionBean"))
-				.isInstanceOfSatisfying(RootBeanDefinition.class, this::isTheValueField);
+				.isInstanceOfSatisfying(RootBeanDefinition.class, this::qualifiedElementIsField);
 	}
 
 
-	private void isTheValueField(RootBeanDefinition def) {
-		assertThat(def.getQualifiedElement()).isInstanceOfSatisfying(Field.class, field -> {
-					assertThat(field.getDeclaringClass()).isEqualTo(CaseByNameWithQualifier.class);
-					assertThat(field.getName()).as("annotated field name")
-							.isEqualTo("description");
-				});
+	private void qualifiedElementIsField(RootBeanDefinition def) {
+		assertThat(def.getQualifiedElement()).isInstanceOfSatisfying(Field.class,
+			field -> {
+				assertThat(field.getDeclaringClass()).isEqualTo(CaseByNameWithQualifier.class);
+				assertThat(field.getName()).as("annotated field name").isEqualTo("description");
+			});
 	}
 
 	private AnnotationConfigApplicationContext createContext(Class<?> testClass) {