diff --git a/tv/lib/devices.py b/tv/lib/devices.py
index ea10ce7..8ada902 100644
--- a/tv/lib/devices.py
+++ b/tv/lib/devices.py
@@ -731,6 +731,7 @@ class DeviceItem(metadata.Store):
             if required not in kwargs:
                 raise TypeError('DeviceItem must be given a "%s" argument'
                                 % required)
+        self.__initialized = False
         self.file_format = self.size = None
         self.release_date = self.feed_name = self.feed_id = None
         self.keep = True
@@ -788,6 +789,8 @@ class DeviceItem(metadata.Store):
             if self.mdp_state is None: # haven't run MDP yet
                 moviedata.movie_data_updater.request_update(self)
 
+        self.__initialized = True
+
     @staticmethod
     def id_exists():
         return True
@@ -872,6 +875,9 @@ class DeviceItem(metadata.Store):
             self.device.database.emit('item-removed', self)
 
     def signal_change(self):
+        if not self.__initialized:
+            return # haven't finished going through __init__ yet
+
         if not os.path.exists(
             os.path.join(self.device.mount, self.video_path)):
             # file was removed from the filesystem