diff --git a/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController+ContextualMenus.swift b/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController+ContextualMenus.swift
index 40fd9f29b..d0f3dd55c 100644
--- a/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController+ContextualMenus.swift
+++ b/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController+ContextualMenus.swift
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ private extension TimelineViewController {
 		if articles.anyArticleIsUnread() {
 			menu.addItem(markReadMenuItem(articles))
 		}
-		if articles.anyArticleIsRead() {
+		if articles.anyArticleIsReadAndCanMarkUnread() {
 			menu.addItem(markUnreadMenuItem(articles))
 		}
 		if articles.anyArticleIsUnstarred() {
diff --git a/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift b/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
index 3f3d4e4ec..7bbb7ac25 100644
--- a/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
+++ b/Mac/MainWindow/Timeline/TimelineViewController.swift
@@ -367,7 +367,17 @@ final class TimelineViewController: NSViewController, UndoableCommandRunner, Unr
 	}
 
 	func markReadCommandStatus() -> MarkCommandValidationStatus {
-		return MarkCommandValidationStatus.statusFor(selectedArticles) { $0.anyArticleIsUnread() }
+		let articles = selectedArticles
+		
+		if articles.anyArticleIsUnread() {
+			return .canMark
+		}
+		
+		if articles.anyArticleIsReadAndCanMarkUnread() {
+			return .canUnmark
+		}
+
+		return .canDoNothing
 	}
 
 	func markOlderArticlesRead() {
diff --git a/Shared/Commands/MarkStatusCommand.swift b/Shared/Commands/MarkStatusCommand.swift
index 5d78d664a..2d2cd09ef 100644
--- a/Shared/Commands/MarkStatusCommand.swift
+++ b/Shared/Commands/MarkStatusCommand.swift
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ final class MarkStatusCommand: UndoableCommand {
 
 	init?(initialArticles: [Article], statusKey: ArticleStatus.Key, flag: Bool, undoManager: UndoManager) {
         
-        // Filter out articles that already have the desired status.
+        // Filter out articles that already have the desired status or can't be marked.
 		let articlesToMark = MarkStatusCommand.filteredArticles(initialArticles, statusKey, flag)
 		if articlesToMark.isEmpty {
 			return nil
@@ -88,6 +88,12 @@ private extension MarkStatusCommand {
 
 	static func filteredArticles(_ articles: [Article], _ statusKey: ArticleStatus.Key, _ flag: Bool) -> [Article] {
 
-		return articles.filter{ $0.status.boolStatus(forKey: statusKey) != flag }
+		return articles.filter{ article in
+			guard article.status.boolStatus(forKey: statusKey) != flag else { return false }
+			guard statusKey == .read else { return true }
+			guard !article.status.read || article.isAvailableToMarkUnread else { return false }
+			return true
+		}
+		
 	}
 }
diff --git a/Shared/Timeline/ArticleArray.swift b/Shared/Timeline/ArticleArray.swift
index 36e53940f..4c0a63c89 100644
--- a/Shared/Timeline/ArticleArray.swift
+++ b/Shared/Timeline/ArticleArray.swift
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ typealias ArticleArray = [Article]
 extension Array where Element == Article {
 
 	func articleAtRow(_ row: Int) -> Article? {
-
 		if row < 0 || row == NSNotFound || row > count - 1 {
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -22,7 +21,6 @@ extension Array where Element == Article {
 	}
 
 	func rowOfNextUnreadArticle(_ selectedRow: Int) -> Int? {
-
 		if isEmpty {
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -44,7 +42,6 @@ extension Array where Element == Article {
 	}
 
 	func articlesForIndexes(_ indexes: IndexSet) -> Set<Article> {
-
 		return Set(indexes.compactMap{ (oneIndex) -> Article? in
 			return articleAtRow(oneIndex)
 		})
@@ -55,12 +52,10 @@ extension Array where Element == Article {
 	}
 	
 	func canMarkAllAsRead() -> Bool {
-
 		return anyArticleIsUnread()
 	}
 
 	func anyArticlePassesTest(_ test: ((Article) -> Bool)) -> Bool {
-
 		for article in self {
 			if test(article) {
 				return true
@@ -69,28 +64,23 @@ extension Array where Element == Article {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	func anyArticleIsRead() -> Bool {
-
-		return anyArticlePassesTest { $0.status.read }
+	func anyArticleIsReadAndCanMarkUnread() -> Bool {
+		return anyArticlePassesTest { $0.status.read && $0.isAvailableToMarkUnread }
 	}
 
 	func anyArticleIsUnread() -> Bool {
-
 		return anyArticlePassesTest { !$0.status.read }
 	}
 
 	func anyArticleIsStarred() -> Bool {
-
 		return anyArticlePassesTest { $0.status.starred }
 	}
 
 	func anyArticleIsUnstarred() -> Bool {
-
 		return anyArticlePassesTest { !$0.status.starred }
 	}
 
 	func unreadArticles() -> [Article]? {
-
 		let articles = self.filter{ !$0.status.read }
 		return articles.isEmpty ? nil : articles
 	}