diff -ur fetchmail-5.8.14/pop3.c fetchmail-5.8.14-keep+flush-fix/pop3.c
--- fetchmail-5.8.14/pop3.c	Wed Jul 11 06:15:45 2001
+++ fetchmail-5.8.14-keep+flush-fix/pop3.c	Wed Jul 18 08:33:58 2001
@@ -715,8 +715,9 @@
      * Just in case the server marks messages deleted when seen.
      * Yes, this has been reported, in the MercuryP/NLM server.
      * It's even legal under RFC 1939 (section 8) as a site policy.
+     * Don't RSET if we --flush old messages, though.
      */
-    if (ctl->keep)
+    if ((ctl->keep) && !(ctl->flush))
 	gen_transact(sock, "RSET");
 
     ok = gen_transact(sock, "QUIT");