diff --git a/timeline/src/Audio_Region.C b/timeline/src/Audio_Region.C
index 051f241..7110b0a 100644
--- a/timeline/src/Audio_Region.C
+++ b/timeline/src/Audio_Region.C
@@ -602,20 +602,19 @@ Audio_Region::draw ( void )
 
         if ( start != ostart || end != oend )
         {
-            if ( _clip->peaks()->peakfile_ready() )
-            {
-                if ( _clip->read_peaks( timeline->fpp(),
+            _clip->peaks()->peakfile_ready();
+
+            if ( _clip->read_peaks( timeline->fpp(),
                                                  start,
                                                  end,
                                         &peaks, &pbuf, &channels ) )
-                {
-                    Waveform::scale( pbuf, peaks * channels, _scale );
+            {
+                Waveform::scale( pbuf, peaks * channels, _scale );
                     
-                    ostart = start;
-                    oend = end;
-                }
+                ostart = start;
+                oend = end;
             }
-            
+                        
             if ( _clip->peaks()->needs_more_peaks() && ! transport->rolling )
             {
                     /* maybe create a thread to make the peaks */
diff --git a/timeline/src/Engine/Peaks.C b/timeline/src/Engine/Peaks.C
index 2c59f04..0fa4dd9 100644
--- a/timeline/src/Engine/Peaks.C
+++ b/timeline/src/Engine/Peaks.C
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ Peaks::peakfile_ready ( void ) const
         _rescan_needed = false;
     }
 
-    return current() && ! _first_block_pending;
+    return _first_block_pending || current();
 }
 
 /** start building peaks and/or peak mipmap in another thread. It is
@@ -640,6 +640,7 @@ Peaks::prepare_for_writing ( void )
 
     char *pn = peakname( _clip->filename() );
 
+    _first_block_pending = true;
     _peak_writer = new Peaks::Streamer( pn, _clip->channels(), cache_minimum );
 
     free( pn );
@@ -652,6 +653,8 @@ Peaks::finish_writing ( void )
 
     delete _peak_writer;
     _peak_writer = NULL;
+
+    _first_block_pending = false;
 }
 
 void