diff --git a/modules/core/src/main/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayUtil.java b/modules/core/src/main/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayUtil.java
index 4478a06ab1..cab5296a9c 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/main/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayUtil.java
+++ b/modules/core/src/main/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayUtil.java
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ public static boolean isResultAreaConsistent(Geometry geom0, Geometry geom1, int
       isConsistent = isDifferenceAreaConsistent(areaA, areaB, areaResult, AREA_HEURISTIC_TOLERANCE);
       break;
     case OverlayNG.SYMDIFFERENCE:
-      isConsistent = isLess(areaResult, areaA + areaB, AREA_HEURISTIC_TOLERANCE);
+      isConsistent = isSymDifferenceAreaConsistent(areaA, areaB, areaResult, AREA_HEURISTIC_TOLERANCE);
       break;
     case OverlayNG.UNION:
       isConsistent = isLess(areaA, areaResult, AREA_HEURISTIC_TOLERANCE) 
@@ -435,6 +435,30 @@ private static boolean isDifferenceAreaConsistent(double areaA, double areaB, do
     return areaResult > areaDiffMin;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Tests if the area of a symmetric difference is within the possible range.
+   * It cannot be greater than the sum of the input areas,
+   * and it cannot be less than the difference of the input areas.
+   * The lower bound is relaxed by a fraction of the larger input area,
+   * so that nearly identical inputs (whose areas differ only by rounding)
+   * can still produce an empty result.
+   * This is a heuristic which will only detect gross overlay errors
+   * (such as an inverted result with negative area).
+   * 
+   * @param areaA the area of A
+   * @param areaB the area of B
+   * @param areaResult the result area
+   * @param tolFrac the area tolerance fraction
+   * 
+   * @return true if the symmetric difference area is consistent.
+   */
+  private static boolean isSymDifferenceAreaConsistent(double areaA, double areaB, double areaResult, double tolFrac) {
+    if (! isLess(areaResult, areaA + areaB, tolFrac))
+      return false;
+    double areaSymDiffMin = Math.abs(areaA - areaB) - tolFrac * Math.max(areaA, areaB);
+    return areaResult >= areaSymDiffMin;
+  }
+
   private static boolean isLess(double v1, double v2, double tol) {
     return v1 <= v2 * (1 + tol);
   }
diff --git a/modules/core/src/test/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayNGRobustTest.java b/modules/core/src/test/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayNGRobustTest.java
index 1c2d10157e..15f4218b37 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/test/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayNGRobustTest.java
+++ b/modules/core/src/test/java/org/locationtech/jts/operation/overlayng/OverlayNGRobustTest.java
@@ -80,6 +80,22 @@ public void testUnionFixed() {
     OverlayNG.overlay(geom1, geom2, OverlayNG.UNION, pm);
   }
   
+  /**
+   * The first snapping attempt for this input produces an inverted polygon
+   * (with negative area), which the area check must reject for a symmetric difference.
+   * The retry with a larger snap tolerance gives the correct result,
+   * which is the polygon, since the line has no area.
+   * 
+   * See https://github.com/locationtech/jts/issues/1239
+   */
+  public void testSymDifferencePolygonLineInvertedResult() {
+    Geometry a = read("POLYGON ((20.58 46.965, 27.52 53.905, 28.52 54.914, 20.58 46.965))");
+    Geometry b = read("LINESTRING (27.519999973297118 53.90499997329712, 52.192 78.577, 27.519 53.904, 28.519999999 54.913999999, 39.599 65.984)");
+    Geometry result = OverlayNGRobust.overlay(a, b, OverlayNG.SYMDIFFERENCE);
+    assertTrue("result is valid", result.isValid());
+    assertEquals(a.getArea(), result.getArea(), 1e-6);
+  }
+  
   // MD 2020-09-14 There is no known test case that requires Snap-Rounding to succeed.
   
   public static void checkUnionSuccess(Geometry a, Geometry b) {