diff --git a/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/CachingAllocator.h b/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/CachingAllocator.h
index e1543d14a23c8..f72e3e40d9920 100644
--- a/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/CachingAllocator.h
+++ b/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/CachingAllocator.h
@@ -376,23 +376,30 @@ namespace cms::alpakatools {
       for (auto iBlock = begin; iBlock != end; ++iBlock) {
         if ((reuseSameQueueAllocations_ and (*block.queue == *(iBlock->second.queue))) or
             alpaka::isComplete(*(iBlock->second.event))) {
-          // associate the cached buffer to the new queue
-          auto queue = std::move(*(block.queue));
-          // TODO cache (or remove) the debug information and use std::move()
-          block = iBlock->second;
-          block.queue = std::move(queue);
+          // take ownership of the cached block, so that a failure below cannot leave a block that
+          // has been moved from inside the cache
+          auto node = cachedBlocks_.extract(iBlock);
+          BlockDescriptor& cached = node.mapped();
+          cachedBytes_.free -= cached.bytes;
+
+          // the queue and the event of the cached block, for the debug message below
+          auto const* previousQueue = cached.queue->m_spQueueImpl.get();
+          auto const* previousEvent = cached.event->m_spEventImpl.get();
+
+          // take the buffer and the event from the cached block. The queue, the bin and the
+          // requested size stay those of this allocation.
+          block.buffer = std::move(cached.buffer);
+          block.event = std::move(cached.event);
+          block.bytes = cached.bytes;
 
           // if the new queue is on different device than the old event, create a new event
           if (block.device() != alpaka::getDev(*(block.event))) {
             block.event = Event{block.device()};
           }
 
-          // insert the cached block into the live blocks
-          // TODO cache (or remove) the debug information and use std::move()
-          liveBlocks_[block.buffer->data()] = block;
+          liveBlocks_.insert_or_assign(block.buffer->data(), block);
 
           // update the accounting information
-          cachedBytes_.free -= block.bytes;
           cachedBytes_.live += block.bytes;
           cachedBytes_.requested += block.requested;
 
@@ -401,13 +408,11 @@ namespace cms::alpakatools {
             out << "\t" << deviceType_ << " " << alpaka::getName(device_) << " reused cached block at "
                 << block.buffer->data() << " (" << block.bytes << " bytes) for queue "
                 << block.queue->m_spQueueImpl.get() << ", event " << block.event->m_spEventImpl.get()
-                << " (previously associated with queue " << iBlock->second.queue->m_spQueueImpl.get() << " , event "
-                << iBlock->second.event->m_spEventImpl.get() << ")." << std::endl;
+                << " (previously associated with queue " << previousQueue << " , event " << previousEvent << ")."
+                << std::endl;
             std::cout << out.str() << std::endl;
           }
 
-          // remove the reused block from the list of cached blocks
-          cachedBlocks_.erase(iBlock);
           return true;
         }
       }
diff --git a/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/BuildFile.xml b/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/BuildFile.xml
index 4c0d1ffff0b27..f34487cdf5232 100644
--- a/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/BuildFile.xml
+++ b/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/BuildFile.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@
   <flags ALPAKA_BACKENDS="1"/>
 </bin>
 
+<bin name="alpakaTestCachingAllocator" file="testCachingAllocator.cc">
+  <use name="alpaka"/>
+  <use name="catch2"/>
+  <use name="HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface"/>
+</bin>
+
 <bin name="alpakaTestBackend" file="testBackend.cc">
   <use name="catch2"/>
   <use name="HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface"/>
diff --git a/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/testCachingAllocator.cc b/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/testCachingAllocator.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bcca7373ab3ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/test/testCachingAllocator.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#include <cstddef>
+
+#define CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN
+#include <catch2/catch_all.hpp>
+
+#include <alpaka/alpaka.hpp>
+
+#include "HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/AllocatorConfig.h"
+#include "HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/CachingAllocator.h"
+#include "HeterogeneousCore/AlpakaInterface/interface/host.h"
+
+// The allocator is exercised on the host device, so the test needs no accelerator.
+using Device = alpaka::DevCpu;
+using Queue = alpaka::QueueCpuBlocking;
+using Allocator = cms::alpakatools::CachingAllocator<Device, Queue>;
+
+TEST_CASE("A reused block reports the size of the new allocation", "[CachingAllocator]") {
+  auto const& device = cms::alpakatools::host();
+  cms::alpakatools::AllocatorConfig config;
+  // reuse blocks that are associated to the same queue, as the device allocators do
+  Allocator allocator{device, config, true, false};
+  Queue queue{device};
+
+  // 300 and 500 bytes fall in the same bin, so the second allocation reuses the first block
+  void* first = allocator.allocate(300, queue);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().requested == 300);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().live == 512);
+
+  allocator.free(first);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().requested == 0);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().live == 0);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().free == 512);
+
+  void* second = allocator.allocate(500, queue);
+  REQUIRE(second == first);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().live == 512);
+  // the block is the same, but the reported size is the one of this allocation
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().requested == 500);
+
+  allocator.free(second);
+  REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().requested == 0);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("The accounting returns to zero after many reuses", "[CachingAllocator]") {
+  auto const& device = cms::alpakatools::host();
+  cms::alpakatools::AllocatorConfig config;
+  Allocator allocator{device, config, true, false};
+  Queue queue{device};
+
+  for (size_t bytes : {300ul, 500ul, 260ul, 511ul, 300ul}) {
+    void* p = allocator.allocate(bytes, queue);
+    REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().requested == bytes);
+    allocator.free(p);
+    REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().requested == 0);
+    REQUIRE(allocator.cacheStatus().live == 0);
+  }
+}