diff --git a/libs/ardour/export_handler.cc b/libs/ardour/export_handler.cc
index 702b497194..f2e9e21ef0 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/export_handler.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/export_handler.cc
@@ -170,8 +170,6 @@ ExportHandler::do_export ()
 int
 ExportHandler::start_timespan ()
 {
-	export_status->timespan++;
-
 	/* stop freewheeling and wait for latency callbacks */
 	if (AudioEngine::instance()->freewheeling ()) {
 		AudioEngine::instance()->freewheel (false);
@@ -186,6 +184,8 @@ ExportHandler::start_timespan ()
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	export_status->timespan++;
+
 	/* finish_timespan pops the config_map entry that has been done, so
 	   this is the timespan to do this time
 	*/