diff --git a/beets/autotag/mb.py b/beets/autotag/mb.py
index 385dc64fb..9ce449a8b 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/mb.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/mb.py
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ def _preferred_release_event(release):
     """
     countries = config['match']['preferred']['countries'].as_str_seq()
 
-    for event in release.get('release-event-list', {}):
-        for country in countries:
+    for country in countries:
+        for event in release.get('release-event-list', {}):
             try:
                 if country in event['area']['iso-3166-1-code-list']:
                     return country, event['date']
diff --git a/beetsplug/mbcollection.py b/beetsplug/mbcollection.py
index c01d544a4..d99c386c9 100644
--- a/beetsplug/mbcollection.py
+++ b/beetsplug/mbcollection.py
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ class MusicBrainzCollectionPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
         offset = 0
         albums_in_collection, release_count = _fetch(offset)
         for i in range(0, release_count, FETCH_CHUNK_SIZE):
-            offset += FETCH_CHUNK_SIZE
             albums_in_collection += _fetch(offset)[0]
+            offset += FETCH_CHUNK_SIZE
 
         return albums_in_collection
 
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ class MusicBrainzCollectionPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
     def remove_missing(self, collection_id, lib_albums):
         lib_ids = set([x.mb_albumid for x in lib_albums])
         albums_in_collection = self._get_albums_in_collection(collection_id)
-        remove_me = list(lib_ids - set(albums_in_collection))
+        remove_me = list(set(albums_in_collection) - lib_ids)
         for i in range(0, len(remove_me), FETCH_CHUNK_SIZE):
             chunk = remove_me[i:i + FETCH_CHUNK_SIZE]
             mb_call(
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index d09bab826..f423ea832 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ Fixes:
 * :doc:`/plugins/ftintitle`: The ``drop`` config option had no effect; it now
   does what it says it should do.
   :bug:`2817`
+* Importing a release with multiple release events now selects the
+  event based on the order of your :ref:`preferred` countries rather than
+  the order of release events in MusicBrainz. :bug:`2816`
 
 For developers: