diff --git a/panda/src/chan/partBundle.h b/panda/src/chan/partBundle.h
index 7fd5defd1b..1a5dcd0c8a 100644
--- a/panda/src/chan/partBundle.h
+++ b/panda/src/chan/partBundle.h
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ private:
   static TypeHandle _type_handle;
 
   friend class PartBundleNode;
+  friend class Character;
   friend class MovingPartBase;
   friend class MovingPartMatrix;
   friend class MovingPartScalar;
diff --git a/panda/src/char/character.cxx b/panda/src/char/character.cxx
index dfcd84cad8..3e3e275f31 100644
--- a/panda/src/char/character.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/char/character.cxx
@@ -265,7 +265,9 @@ merge_bundles(PartBundle *old_bundle, PartBundle *new_bundle) {
   // First, merge the bundles themselves.
   JointMap joint_map;
   r_merge_bundles(joint_map, old_bundle, new_bundle);
+  old_bundle->remove_node(this);
   _bundles[index] = new_bundle;
+  new_bundle->add_node(this);
 
   // Now convert the geometry to use the new bundle.
   GeomVertexMap gvmap;