diff --git a/beets/autotag/distance.py b/beets/autotag/distance.py
index b2c02ebd14..cc0873c8f3 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/distance.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/distance.py
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ def generic_penalty_keys(self) -> list[str]:
         return [
             k.replace("album_", "").replace("track_", "").replace("_", " ")
             for k in self._penalties
+            if self[k]
         ]
 
     # Access the components and their aggregates.
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 94b09a5103..8df74d84ac 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -38,9 +38,12 @@ New features
 
   See :doc:`plugins/tidal` for more information.
 
-..
-    Bug fixes
-    ~~~~~~~~~
+Bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+- :ref:`import-cmd`: Tags with a zero distance penalty are no longer shown as
+  differences in the match display. Previously, custom ``distance_weights``
+  could cause fields with no actual mismatch to appear in the ``≠`` line.
 
 ..
     For plugin developers
diff --git a/test/autotag/test_distance.py b/test/autotag/test_distance.py
index b37f4b6377..b5226d41d3 100644
--- a/test/autotag/test_distance.py
+++ b/test/autotag/test_distance.py
@@ -124,6 +124,12 @@ def test_penalties_sort(self, dist):
         dist.add("medium", 0.75)
         assert dist.items() == [("album", 0.25), ("medium", 0.25)]
 
+    def test_generic_penalty_keys_excludes_zero_penalties(self, dist):
+        dist.add("album", 0.5)
+        dist.add("label", 0.0)
+        dist.add("medium", 0.25)
+        assert dist.generic_penalty_keys == ["album", "medium"]
+
     def test_update(self, dist):
         dist1 = dist
         dist1.add("album", 0.5)