diff --git a/searcharray/roaringish/spans.pyx b/searcharray/roaringish/spans.pyx
index 42e1f13..871b034 100644
--- a/searcharray/roaringish/spans.pyx
+++ b/searcharray/roaringish/spans.pyx
@@ -67,6 +67,26 @@ cdef DTYPE_t _consume_lsb(DTYPE_t* term):
 cdef DTYPE_t _posn_mask(DTYPE_t set_idx, DTYPE_t payload_base):
     return 1 << ((set_idx + payload_base) % 64)
 
+
+cdef DTYPE_t _num_terms(ActiveSpans* spans, DTYPE_t span_idx):
+    return __builtin_popcountll(spans.terms[span_idx])
+
+
+cdef DTYPE_t _num_posns(ActiveSpans* spans, DTYPE_t span_idx):
+    return __builtin_popcountll(spans.posns[span_idx])
+
+
+cdef bint _do_spans_overlap(ActiveSpans* spans, DTYPE_t span_idx_lhs, DTYPE_t span_idx_rhs):
+    return (spans.beg[span_idx_lhs] <= spans.end[span_idx_rhs]) and (spans.end[span_idx_lhs] >= spans.beg[span_idx_rhs])
+
+
+cdef bint _is_span_complete(ActiveSpans* spans, DTYPE_t span_idx, DTYPE_t num_terms):
+    cdef DTYPE_t num_terms_visited = _num_terms(spans, span_idx)
+    cdef DTYPE_t num_posns_visited = _num_posns(spans, span_idx)
+    return (num_terms_visited == num_terms) or (num_posns_visited == num_terms)
+
+
+
 cdef _span_freqs(DTYPE_t[:] posns,      # Flattened all terms in one array
                  DTYPE_t[:] lengths,
                  double[:] phrase_freqs,
@@ -106,8 +126,8 @@ cdef _span_freqs(DTYPE_t[:] posns,      # Flattened all terms in one array
                 term = posns[curr_idx[term_ord]] & payload_mask
                 curr_term_mask = 0x1 << term_ord
 
+                # Consume every position into every possible span
                 while term != 0:
-                    # Consume into span
                     set_idx = _consume_lsb(&term)
                     posn_mask = _posn_mask(set_idx, payload_base)
 
@@ -119,18 +139,17 @@ cdef _span_freqs(DTYPE_t[:] posns,      # Flattened all terms in one array
                     # Remove spans that are too long
                     for span_idx in range(spans.cursor):
                         # Continue active spans
-                        num_terms_visited = __builtin_popcountll(spans.terms[span_idx])
-                        num_posns_visited = __builtin_popcountll(spans.posns[span_idx])
+                        num_terms_visited = _num_terms(&spans, span_idx)
+                        num_posns_visited = _num_posns(&spans, span_idx)
                         if num_terms_visited < num_terms and num_posns_visited == num_terms:
                             continue
                         spans.terms[span_idx] |= curr_term_mask
-                        num_terms_visited_now = __builtin_popcountll(spans.terms[span_idx])
+                        num_terms_visited_now = _num_terms(&spans, span_idx)
                         if num_terms_visited_now > num_terms_visited:
                             # Add position for new unique term
-                            num_unique_posns = __builtin_popcountll(spans.posns[span_idx])
                             spans.posns[span_idx] |= posn_mask
-                            new_unique_posns = __builtin_popcountll(spans.posns[span_idx])
-                            if num_unique_posns == new_unique_posns:
+                            new_unique_posns = _num_posns(&spans, span_idx)
+                            if num_posns_visited == new_unique_posns:
                                 # Clear curr_term_mask and cancel this position, we've seen it before
                                 spans.terms[span_idx] &= ~curr_term_mask
                                 continue
@@ -156,10 +175,13 @@ cdef _span_freqs(DTYPE_t[:] posns,      # Flattened all terms in one array
 
         # Count phrase freqs
         for span_idx in range(spans.cursor):
-            num_terms_visited = __builtin_popcountll(spans.terms[span_idx])
-            num_posns_visited = __builtin_popcountll(spans.posns[span_idx])
-            if num_terms_visited < num_terms or num_posns_visited < num_terms:
+            if not _is_span_complete(&spans, span_idx, num_terms):
                 continue
+            for other_span_idx in range(spans.cursor):
+                if other_span_idx == span_idx or not _is_span_complete(&spans, other_span_idx, num_terms):
+                    continue
+                if _do_spans_overlap(&spans, span_idx, other_span_idx):
+                    break
             assert last_key < phrase_freqs.shape[0]
             phrase_freqs[last_key] += 1