diff --git a/docs/releasenotes/version17.md b/docs/releasenotes/version17.md
index db6f24d4..13ff143e 100644
--- a/docs/releasenotes/version17.md
+++ b/docs/releasenotes/version17.md
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@
   would leave a stale index that returns incorrect search results in Acrobat.
   Modern viewers rebuild a search index on demand, so there is no loss of
   search capability.
+- OCRmyPDF now discards embedded per-page thumbnail images (the optional
+  ``/Thumb`` image XObject on a page) from its output. OCRmyPDF alters page
+  appearance (deskew, clean, rasterize, re-render) and plugins may edit pages
+  arbitrarily, so a retained thumbnail would be stale and no longer match its
+  page. Embedded thumbnails are a navigation aid that modern viewers generate
+  on demand, so there is no loss of functionality.
 - Fixed a regression in OCR quality for PDFs that paint a 1-bit image mask
   (stencil) with a gray or colored fill color. Previously such pages were
   rasterized as 1-bit black-and-white before OCR, so Ghostscript dithered
diff --git a/src/ocrmypdf/_graft.py b/src/ocrmypdf/_graft.py
index e45d9cb4..0a0641ae 100644
--- a/src/ocrmypdf/_graft.py
+++ b/src/ocrmypdf/_graft.py
@@ -241,6 +241,32 @@ def discard_text_search_index(pdf: Pdf) -> bool:
         return False
 
 
+def discard_page_thumbnails(pdf: Pdf) -> int:
+    """Discard embedded per-page thumbnail images.
+
+    A page object may carry an optional ``/Thumb`` image XObject — a miniature
+    rendering of the page (ISO 32000-2, 12.3.4). It is only a navigation aid and
+    modern viewers generate page thumbnails on demand. OCRmyPDF alters page
+    appearance (deskew, clean, rasterize, re-render) and plugins may edit pages
+    arbitrarily, so any retained thumbnail would be stale and misrepresent its
+    page. We discard them; viewers rebuild thumbnails as needed. Returns the
+    number of thumbnails removed.
+    """
+    removed = 0
+    for page in pdf.pages:
+        pageobj = page.obj
+        if Name.Thumb in pageobj:
+            del pageobj[Name.Thumb]
+            removed += 1
+    if removed:
+        log.debug(
+            "Discarded %d embedded page thumbnail(s) (/Thumb) because the PDF "
+            "was rewritten; they would otherwise be stale.",
+            removed,
+        )
+    return removed
+
+
 class OcrGrafter:
     """Manages grafting text-only PDFs onto regular PDFs."""
 
@@ -362,6 +388,7 @@ class OcrGrafter:
             self._render_and_graft_fpdf2_pages()
 
         discard_text_search_index(self.pdf_base)
+        discard_page_thumbnails(self.pdf_base)
         self.pdf_base.save(self.output_file)
         self.pdf_base.close()
         return self.output_file
diff --git a/tests/test_thumbnails.py b/tests/test_thumbnails.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..550c04ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_thumbnails.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 James R. Barlow
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+
+import pikepdf
+import pytest
+from pikepdf import Name
+
+from ocrmypdf._graft import discard_page_thumbnails
+
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf
+
+# pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+
+
+def _add_thumbnail(pdf: pikepdf.Pdf, pageindex: int = 0) -> None:
+    """Attach a minimal /Thumb image XObject to a page."""
+    width, height = 4, 4
+    thumb = pikepdf.Stream(pdf, b'\x00' * (width * height))
+    thumb.Type = Name.XObject
+    thumb.Subtype = Name.Image
+    thumb.Width = width
+    thumb.Height = height
+    thumb.ColorSpace = Name.DeviceGray
+    thumb.BitsPerComponent = 8
+    pdf.pages[pageindex].obj.Thumb = pdf.make_indirect(thumb)
+
+
+def test_discard_page_thumbnails_removes_thumbnails(resources):
+    with pikepdf.open(resources / 'francais.pdf') as pdf:
+        # No thumbnails -> nothing to do
+        assert discard_page_thumbnails(pdf) == 0
+
+        _add_thumbnail(pdf, 0)
+        assert Name.Thumb in pdf.pages[0].obj
+
+        assert discard_page_thumbnails(pdf) == 1
+        assert Name.Thumb not in pdf.pages[0].obj
+
+        # Idempotent: a second call finds nothing to remove
+        assert discard_page_thumbnails(pdf) == 0
+
+
+def test_discard_page_thumbnails_counts_each_page(resources):
+    with pikepdf.open(resources / 'multipage.pdf') as pdf:
+        assert len(pdf.pages) >= 2
+        _add_thumbnail(pdf, 0)
+        _add_thumbnail(pdf, 1)
+        assert discard_page_thumbnails(pdf) == 2
+        assert all(Name.Thumb not in page.obj for page in pdf.pages)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def pdf_with_thumbnail(resources, outdir):
+    out = outdir / 'with_thumbnail.pdf'
+    with pikepdf.open(resources / 'graph.pdf') as pdf:
+        _add_thumbnail(pdf, 0)
+        assert Name.Thumb in pdf.pages[0].obj
+        pdf.save(out)
+    return out
+
+
+def test_thumbnail_discarded_end_to_end(pdf_with_thumbnail, outpdf, caplog):
+    caplog.set_level(logging.DEBUG)
+    check_ocrmypdf(
+        pdf_with_thumbnail,
+        outpdf,
+        '--output-type',
+        'pdf',
+        '--plugin',
+        'tests/plugins/tesseract_noop.py',
+    )
+    with pikepdf.open(outpdf) as pdf:
+        assert all(Name.Thumb not in page.obj for page in pdf.pages)
+    assert 'thumbnail' in caplog.text.lower()
+
+
+def test_thumbnail_discarded_with_ocr_engine_none(pdf_with_thumbnail, outpdf):
+    # Even in pure image-processing mode, OCRmyPDF rewrites the PDF, which can
+    # alter page appearance, so the stale thumbnail must still be discarded.
+    check_ocrmypdf(
+        pdf_with_thumbnail,
+        outpdf,
+        '--ocr-engine',
+        'none',
+        '--output-type',
+        'pdf',
+    )
+    with pikepdf.open(outpdf) as pdf:
+        assert all(Name.Thumb not in page.obj for page in pdf.pages)