diff --git a/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium.go b/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium.go
index 8916f3922..59822b383 100644
--- a/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium.go
+++ b/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium.go
@@ -152,7 +152,9 @@ func (s *SchemaEventPayload) GetColumns() (*columns.Columns, error) {
 
 func (s *SchemaEventPayload) GetData(pkMap map[string]any, tc kafkalib.TopicConfig) (map[string]any, error) {
 	var retMap map[string]any
-	if len(s.Payload.afterMap) == 0 {
+
+	switch s.Operation() {
+	case "d":
 		// This is a delete event, so mark it as deleted.
 		// And we need to reconstruct the data bit since it will be empty.
 		// We _can_ rely on *before* since even without running replicate identity, it will still copy over
@@ -171,7 +173,7 @@ func (s *SchemaEventPayload) GetData(pkMap map[string]any, tc kafkalib.TopicConf
 		for k, v := range pkMap {
 			retMap[k] = v
 		}
-	} else {
+	case "r", "u", "c":
 		retMap = s.Payload.afterMap
 		// TODO: Remove this code.
 		for key, value := range pkMap {
@@ -185,6 +187,8 @@ func (s *SchemaEventPayload) GetData(pkMap map[string]any, tc kafkalib.TopicConf
 
 		retMap[constants.DeleteColumnMarker] = false
 		retMap[constants.OnlySetDeleteColumnMarker] = false
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown operation: %q", s.Operation())
 	}
 
 	if tc.IncludeArtieUpdatedAt {
diff --git a/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium_test.go b/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium_test.go
index 87d262505..926fa23c9 100644
--- a/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium_test.go
+++ b/lib/cdc/mongo/debezium_test.go
@@ -121,6 +121,15 @@ func (m *MongoTestSuite) TestMongoDBEventOrder() {
 	assert.False(m.T(), evt.DeletePayload())
 }
 
+func (m *MongoTestSuite) TestMongoDBEvent_DeletedRow() {
+	payload := `{"schema":{"type":"","fields":null},"payload":{"before":"{\"_id\":\"abc\"}","after":"{\"_id\":\"abc\"}","source":{"connector":"","ts_ms":1728784382733,"db":"foo","collection":"bar"},"op":"d"}}`
+	evt, err := m.Debezium.GetEventFromBytes([]byte(payload))
+	assert.NoError(m.T(), err)
+	evtData, err := evt.GetData(map[string]any{"_id": "abc"}, kafkalib.TopicConfig{})
+	assert.NoError(m.T(), err)
+	assert.True(m.T(), evtData[constants.DeleteColumnMarker].(bool))
+}
+
 func (m *MongoTestSuite) TestMongoDBEventCustomer() {
 	payload := `
 {
@@ -151,7 +160,6 @@ func (m *MongoTestSuite) TestMongoDBEventCustomer() {
 	}
 }
 `
-
 	evt, err := m.Debezium.GetEventFromBytes([]byte(payload))
 	assert.NoError(m.T(), err)
 	evtData, err := evt.GetData(map[string]any{"_id": int64(1003)}, kafkalib.TopicConfig{})