diff --git a/src/stratifier.c b/src/stratifier.c
index 77c5a79e..d43b75db 100644
--- a/src/stratifier.c
+++ b/src/stratifier.c
@@ -1415,7 +1415,8 @@ static void block_update(ckpool_t *ckp, int *prio)
 
 	/* Skip update if we're getting stacked low priority updates too close
 	 * together. */
-	if (*prio < GEN_PRIORITY && time(NULL) < sdata->update_time + (ckp->update_interval / 2)) {
+	if (*prio < GEN_PRIORITY && time(NULL) < sdata->update_time + (ckp->update_interval / 2) &&
+	    sdata->current_workbase) {
 		ret = true;
 		goto out;
 	}