diff --git a/libs/ardour/midi_source.cc b/libs/ardour/midi_source.cc
index 34cbdd5b8f..3dacd09bcd 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/midi_source.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/midi_source.cc
@@ -440,12 +440,14 @@ MidiSource::write_to (const Lock& lock, boost::shared_ptr<MidiSource> newsrc, Te
 
 	newsrc->flush_midi(newsrc_lock);
 
-	/* force a reload of the model if the range is partial */
 
 	if (begin != Temporal::Beats() || end != std::numeric_limits<Temporal::Beats>::max()) {
+		/* force a reload of the model if the range is partial */
 		newsrc->load_model (newsrc_lock, true);
 	} else {
-		newsrc->set_model (newsrc_lock, _model);
+		/* re-create model */
+		newsrc->destroy_model (newsrc_lock);
+		newsrc->load_model (newsrc_lock);
 	}
 
 	/* this file is not removable (but since it is MIDI, it is mutable) */
diff --git a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
index 4e6712c795..27a77b8385 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
@@ -1348,18 +1348,23 @@ Session::state (bool save_template, snapshot_t snapshot_type, bool only_used_ass
 					const std::string base          = PBD::basename_nosuffix(ancestor_name);
 					const string path               = new_midi_source_path (base, false);
 
+					/* Session::save_state() will already have called
+					 * ms->session_saved ();
+					 */
+
 					/* use SMF-API to clone data (use the midi_model, not data on disk) */
-					boost::shared_ptr<SMFSource> newsrc (new SMFSource (*this, path, SndFileSource::default_writable_flags));
+					boost::shared_ptr<SMFSource> newsrc (new SMFSource (*this, path, ms->flags()));
 					Source::Lock lm (ms->mutex());
 
-					// TODO special-case empty, removable() files: just create a new removable.
-					// (load + write flushes the model and creates the file)
 					if (!ms->model()) {
 						ms->load_model (lm);
 					}
+					/* write_to() calls newsrc->flush_midi () to write the file to disk */
 					if (ms->write_to (lm, newsrc, Temporal::Beats(), std::numeric_limits<Temporal::Beats>::max())) {
 						error << string_compose (_("Session-Save: Failed to copy MIDI Source '%1' for snapshot"), ancestor_name) << endmsg;
 					} else {
+						newsrc->session_saved (); /*< this sohuld be a no-op */
+
 						if (snapshot_type == SnapshotKeep) {
 							/* keep working on current session.
 							 *
@@ -1370,7 +1375,7 @@ Session::state (bool save_template, snapshot_t snapshot_type, bool only_used_ass
 						}
 
 						/* swap file-paths.
-						 * ~SMFSource  unlinks removable() files.
+						 * ~SMFSource unlinks removable() files.
 						 */
 						std::string npath (ms->path ());
 						ms->replace_file (newsrc->path ());
@@ -1384,11 +1389,10 @@ Session::state (bool save_template, snapshot_t snapshot_type, bool only_used_ass
 							 */
 							child->add_child_nocopy (ms->get_state());
 						}
-						continue;
 					}
+					continue;
 				}
 			}
-
 			child->add_child_nocopy (siter->second->get_state());
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc b/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc
index ff1ac04b3b..6eca986671 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc
@@ -212,7 +212,9 @@ SMFSource::open_for_write ()
 void
 SMFSource::close ()
 {
-	/* nothing to do: file descriptor is never kept open */
+	/* nothing to do: file descriptor is never kept open.
+	 * Note, keep `_open = true` regardless.
+	 */
 }
 
 extern PBD::Timing minsert;