diff --git a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
index d172db5a98..3e4cc1e094 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
@@ -1209,7 +1209,7 @@ Session::state (bool save_template, snapshot_t snapshot_type, bool only_used_ass
 
 		/* store the last engine device we we can avoid autostarting on a different device with wrong i/o count */
 		boost::shared_ptr<AudioBackend> backend = _engine.current_backend();
-		if (_engine.running () && backend) {
+		if (_engine.running () && backend && _engine.setup_required ()) {
 			child = node->add_child ("EngineHints");
 			child->set_property ("backend", backend-> name ());
 			if (backend->use_separate_input_and_output_devices()) {
@@ -4585,6 +4585,11 @@ Session::get_info_from_path (const string& xmlpath, float& sample_rate, SampleFo
 	std::string version;
 	program_version = "";
 
+	if (engine_hints) {
+		/* clear existing properties */
+		*engine_hints = XMLNode ("EngineHints");
+	}
+
 	if (!Glib::file_test (xmlpath, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
 		return -1;
 	}