diff --git a/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp b/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp
index 44dbbf7cb..90f699e0f 100644
--- a/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ namespace diff{
       bool contains (X const& elm)  const;
       
       
-      bool matches (GenNode const& o)  const { return o == *this; }
+      bool matches (GenNode const& o)  const { return this->matches(o.idi); }  ///< @note \em not comparing payload data. Use equality for that
       bool matches (ID const& id)      const { return idi == id; }
       bool matches (int     number)    const { return data.matchNum(number);}
       bool matches (int64_t number)    const { return data.matchNum(number);}
diff --git a/src/lib/diff/record.hpp b/src/lib/diff/record.hpp
index ea3642536..73754d6f1 100644
--- a/src/lib/diff/record.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/diff/record.hpp
@@ -511,6 +511,7 @@ namespace diff{
    *          This trickery is necessary to avoid copying a large and possibly
    *          nested object tree; this happens when applying a diff, when
    *          recursively descending into nested child objects.
+   * @todo do we have a design mismatch here??      /////////////////////////////////////////TICKET #970
    * @see tree-diff-application.hpp
    */
   template<typename VAL>