diff --git a/src/ifcgeom/mapping/IfcObjectPlacement.cpp b/src/ifcgeom/mapping/IfcObjectPlacement.cpp
index 098236d7c1..a0a37dd30f 100644
--- a/src/ifcgeom/mapping/IfcObjectPlacement.cpp
+++ b/src/ifcgeom/mapping/IfcObjectPlacement.cpp
@@ -21,15 +21,37 @@
 #define mapping POSTFIX_SCHEMA(mapping)
 using namespace ifcopenshell::geometry;
 
+#include <deque>
+
 taxonomy::ptr mapping::map_impl(const IfcSchema::IfcObjectPlacement* inst) {
     if (placement_rel_to_type_ || placement_rel_to_instance_) {
-        // @nb this is not a full solution because we only look for the direct PlacesObject relationships of the current placement,
-        // a more complete solution should track whether this element sits above the element of which the placement is being ignored.
-        auto self_places = inst->PlacesObject();
-        for (auto iter = self_places->begin(); iter != self_places->end(); ++iter) {
-            if ((placement_rel_to_type_ && (*iter)->declaration().is(*placement_rel_to_type_)) ||
-                (placement_rel_to_instance_ && (*iter)->as<IfcUtil::IfcBaseEntity>() == placement_rel_to_instance_)){
-                return taxonomy::make<taxonomy::matrix4>();
+        using QueueItem = std::pair<const IfcUtil::IfcBaseEntity*, int>;
+        std::deque<QueueItem> q = {{inst, 0}};
+        while (!q.empty()) {
+            auto [placement_entity, depth] = q.front();
+            q.pop_front();
+
+            auto placement = placement_entity->as<typename IfcSchema::IfcObjectPlacement>();
+            if (!placement) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            auto self_places = placement->PlacesObject();
+            inst->ReferencedByPlacements();
+            for (auto iter = self_places->begin(); iter != self_places->end(); ++iter) {
+                if ((placement_rel_to_type_ && (*iter)->declaration().is(*placement_rel_to_type_)) ||
+                    (placement_rel_to_instance_ && (*iter)->as<IfcUtil::IfcBaseEntity>() == placement_rel_to_instance_)) {
+                    return taxonomy::make<taxonomy::matrix4>();
+                }
+            }
+
+			// Look for two levels deep, we want to know if we're at or *above* the 
+			// element we're ignoring, but we don't want to traverse the entire model.
+			if (depth < 2) {
+                auto refs = placement->ReferencedByPlacements();
+                for (auto& ref : *refs) {
+                    q.emplace_back(ref, depth + 1);
+                }
             }
         }
 	}