diff --git a/src/corelib/serialization/qjson_p.h b/src/corelib/serialization/qjson_p.h
index f8f807189f1..37b556b9d01 100644
--- a/src/corelib/serialization/qjson_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/serialization/qjson_p.h
@@ -139,7 +139,6 @@ struct ObjectIterator
     bool operator<=(ObjectIterator other) const { return it <= other.it; }
     bool operator>=(ObjectIterator other) const { return it >= other.it; }
 
-private:
     ElementsIterator it;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/corelib/serialization/qjsonobject.cpp b/src/corelib/serialization/qjsonobject.cpp
index ee4ea8ce238..9eeb11cc388 100644
--- a/src/corelib/serialization/qjsonobject.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/serialization/qjsonobject.cpp
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ static qsizetype indexOf(const QExplicitlySharedDataPointer<QCborContainerPrivat
     });
 
     *keyExists = (it != end) && o->stringEqualsElement((*it).key(), key);
-    return (it - begin) * 2;
+    return it.it - begin.it;
 }
 
 #if QT_STRINGVIEW_LEVEL < 2
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ void QJsonObject::removeImpl(T key)
     if (!keyExists)
         return;
 
-    removeAt(index / 2);
+    removeAt(index);
 }
 
 #if QT_STRINGVIEW_LEVEL < 2
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ QJsonValue QJsonObject::takeImpl(T key)
 
     detach();
     const QJsonValue v = QJsonPrivate::Value::fromTrustedCbor(o->extractAt(index + 1));
-    removeAt(index / 2);
+    removeAt(index);
     return v;
 }
 
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ bool QJsonObject::operator!=(const QJsonObject &other) const
  */
 QJsonObject::iterator QJsonObject::erase(QJsonObject::iterator it)
 {
-    removeAt(it.item.index);
+    removeAt(it.item.index * 2);
 
     // index hasn't changed; the container pointer shouldn't have changed
     // because we shouldn't have detached (detaching happens on obtaining a
@@ -1461,8 +1461,8 @@ void QJsonObject::setValueAt(qsizetype i, const QJsonValue &val)
 void QJsonObject::removeAt(qsizetype index)
 {
     detach();
-    o->removeAt(2 * index + 1);
-    o->removeAt(2 * index);
+    o->removeAt(index + 1);
+    o->removeAt(index);
 }
 
 size_t qHash(const QJsonObject &object, size_t seed)
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp
index 98e1782840a..f9b4e9bbd18 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/json/tst_qtjson.cpp
@@ -1023,8 +1023,9 @@ void tst_QtJson::testObjectIteration()
     for (QJsonObject::iterator it = object.begin(); it != object.end(); ++it)
         QFAIL("Iterator after property add-and-remove should be empty");
 
-    for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
-        object[QString::number(i)] = (double)i;
+    // insert in weird order to confirm keys are sorted
+    for (int i : {0, 9, 5, 7, 8, 2, 1, 3, 6, 4})
+        object[QString::number(i)] = double(i);
 
     QCOMPARE(object.size(), 10);