diff --git a/mod_reqin_log.spec b/mod_reqin_log.spec
index fea4fd5..76f30f3 100644
--- a/mod_reqin_log.spec
+++ b/mod_reqin_log.spec
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-%global spec_version 1.0.17
+%global spec_version 1.0.18
 
 Name:           mod_reqin_log
 Version:        %{spec_version}
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ install -m 644 %{_pkgroot}/%{_sysconfdir}/httpd/conf.d/mod_reqin_log.conf %{buil
 %doc %{_docdir}/%{name}
 
 %changelog
+* Thu Mar 05 2026 Developer <dev@example.com> - 1.0.18
+- FIX: JsonSockLogMaxHeaders now counts configured headers (by position in list)
+  regardless of their presence in the request, matching the documented behavior
+
 * Thu Mar 05 2026 Developer <dev@example.com> - 1.0.17
 - CONFIG: Extend default JsonSockLogHeaders list (User-Agent, Referer, X-Forwarded-For,
   Sec-CH-UA*, Sec-Fetch-*, Accept, Accept-Language, Accept-Encoding)
diff --git a/src/mod_reqin_log.c b/src/mod_reqin_log.c
index 2cbc2f0..95b251c 100644
--- a/src/mod_reqin_log.c
+++ b/src/mod_reqin_log.c
@@ -837,6 +837,9 @@ static void log_request(request_rec *r, reqin_log_config_t *cfg, reqin_log_child
                 continue;
             }
 
+            /* Count against the limit regardless of header presence in the request */
+            header_count++;
+
             header_value = get_header(r, header_name);
 
             if (header_value != NULL) {
@@ -864,8 +867,6 @@ static void log_request(request_rec *r, reqin_log_config_t *cfg, reqin_log_child
                 truncated = apr_pstrmemdup(pool, header_value, val_len);
                 append_json_string(&buf, truncated);
                 dynbuf_append(&buf, "\"", 1);
-
-                header_count++;
             }
         }
     }