diff --git a/lib/tick.dart b/lib/tick.dart
index 6d29caf..7e55da5 100644
--- a/lib/tick.dart
+++ b/lib/tick.dart
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ class BackgroundTickerState extends ConsumerState<BackgroundTicker> {
         activeAccountInfo: activeAccountInfo,
         remoteIdentityPublicKey: remoteIdentityPublicKey,
         remoteConversationRecordKey: remoteConversationRecordKey);
-    if (newMessages != null) {
+    if (newMessages != null && newMessages.isNotEmpty) {
       final changed = await mergeLocalConversationMessages(
           activeAccountInfo: activeAccountInfo,
           localConversationRecordKey: localConversationRecordKey,
diff --git a/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_record_pool.dart b/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_record_pool.dart
index 3f2afae..cbd879e 100644
--- a/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_record_pool.dart
+++ b/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_record_pool.dart
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ class DHTRecordPool with AsyncTableDBBacked<DHTRecordPoolAllocations> {
     return instanceSetupMutex.protect(() async {
       if (_singleton == null) {
         final routingContext = await Veilid.instance.routingContext();
-
         final globalPool = DHTRecordPool._(Veilid.instance, routingContext);
         globalPool._state = await globalPool.load();
         _singleton = globalPool;
diff --git a/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_short_array.dart b/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_short_array.dart
index cedd0a3..82b701f 100644
--- a/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_short_array.dart
+++ b/lib/veilid_support/dht_support/src/dht_short_array.dart
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ class DHTShortArray {
 
   /// Pull the latest or updated copy of the head record from the network
   Future<bool> _refreshHead(
-      {bool forceRefresh = false, bool onlyUpdates = false}) async {
+      {bool forceRefresh = true, bool onlyUpdates = false}) async {
     // Get an updated head record copy if one exists
     final head = await _headRecord.getProtobuf(proto.DHTShortArray.fromBuffer,
         forceRefresh: forceRefresh, onlyUpdates: onlyUpdates);