diff --git a/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/match.py b/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/match.py
index 62feb7e4aba..2f9b2458022 100644
--- a/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/match.py
+++ b/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/match.py
@@ -438,13 +438,15 @@ def compare_publisher(e1: dict, e2: dict):
                     return ('publisher', 'occur within the other', 100)
                 elif short_part_publisher_match(e1_norm, e2_norm):
                     return ('publisher', 'match', 100)
-        return ('publisher', 'mismatch', -25)
+        return ('publisher', 'mismatch', -51)
 
     if 'publishers' not in e1 or 'publishers' not in e2:
         return ('publisher', 'either missing', 0)
 
 
-def threshold_match(rec1: dict, rec2: dict, threshold: int, debug: bool = False):
+def threshold_match(
+    rec1: dict, rec2: dict, threshold: int, debug: bool = False
+) -> bool:
     """
     Determines (according to a threshold) whether two edition representations are
     sufficiently the same. Used when importing new books.
@@ -460,12 +462,12 @@ def threshold_match(rec1: dict, rec2: dict, threshold: int, debug: bool = False)
     level1 = level1_match(e1, e2)
     total = sum(i[2] for i in level1)
     if debug:
-        print(f"E1: {e1}\nE2: {e2}")
-        print(f"TOTAL 1 = {total} : {level1}")
+        print(f"E1: {e1}\nE2: {e2}", flush=True)
+        print(f"TOTAL 1 = {total} : {level1}", flush=True)
     if total >= threshold:
         return True
     level2 = level2_match(e1, e2)
     total = sum(i[2] for i in level2)
     if debug:
-        print(f"TOTAL 2 = {total} : {level2}")
+        print(f"TOTAL 2 = {total} : {level2}", flush=True)
     return total >= threshold
diff --git a/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/tests/test_match.py b/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/tests/test_match.py
index 28246d79e16..9989cf12fe5 100644
--- a/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/tests/test_match.py
+++ b/openlibrary/catalog/add_book/tests/test_match.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 from openlibrary.catalog.add_book import load
 from openlibrary.catalog.add_book.match import (
+    THRESHOLD,
     add_db_name,
     build_titles,
     compare_authors,
@@ -290,7 +291,7 @@ def test_compare_publisher():
     assert compare_publisher(foo, {}) == ('publisher', 'either missing', 0)
     assert compare_publisher({}, bar) == ('publisher', 'either missing', 0)
     assert compare_publisher(foo, foo2) == ('publisher', 'match', 100)
-    assert compare_publisher(foo, bar) == ('publisher', 'mismatch', -25)
+    assert compare_publisher(foo, bar) == ('publisher', 'mismatch', -51)
     assert compare_publisher(bar, both) == ('publisher', 'match', 100)
     assert compare_publisher(both, foo) == ('publisher', 'match', 100)
 
@@ -370,3 +371,36 @@ def test_match_low_threshold(self):
         threshold = 515
         assert threshold_match(e1, e2, threshold) is True
         assert threshold_match(e1, e2, threshold + 1) is False
+
+    def test_matching_title_author_and_publish_year_but_not_publishers(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Matching only title, author, and publish_year should not be sufficient for
+        meeting the match threshold if the publisher is truthy and doesn't match,
+        as a book published in different publishers in the same year would easily meet
+        the criteria.
+        """
+        existing_edition = {
+            'authors': [{'name': 'Edgar Lee Masters'}],
+            'publish_date': '2022',
+            'publishers': ['Creative Media Partners, LLC'],
+            'title': 'Spoon River Anthology',
+        }
+
+        potential_match1 = {
+            'authors': [{'name': 'Edgar Lee Masters'}],
+            'publish_date': '2022',
+            'publishers': ['Standard Ebooks'],
+            'title': 'Spoon River Anthology',
+        }
+
+        assert threshold_match(existing_edition, potential_match1, THRESHOLD) is False
+
+        potential_match2 = {
+            'authors': [{'name': 'Edgar Lee Masters'}],
+            'publish_date': '2022',
+            'title': 'Spoon River Anthology',
+        }
+
+        # If there i s no publisher and nothing else to match, the editions should be
+        # indistinguishable, and therefore matches.
+        assert threshold_match(existing_edition, potential_match2, THRESHOLD) is True