diff --git a/libs/ardour/session.cc b/libs/ardour/session.cc
index 65d9f59a58..9faa34dcc7 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session.cc
@@ -3351,7 +3351,7 @@ Session::remove_source (boost::weak_ptr<Source> src)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (!(_state_of_the_state & InCleanup)) {
+	if (!(_state_of_the_state & StateOfTheState (InCleanup|Loading))) {
 
 		/* save state so we don't end up with a session file
 		   referring to non-existent sources.