diff --git a/libs/ardour/ardour/smf_source.h b/libs/ardour/ardour/smf_source.h
index e2f36b07ec..5e54c1580a 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/ardour/smf_source.h
+++ b/libs/ardour/ardour/smf_source.h
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ public:
 	void destroy_model ();
 
 	void flush_midi ();
+	void ensure_disk_file ();
 
 	static void set_header_position_offset (framecnt_t offset, bool negative);
 
diff --git a/libs/ardour/midi_diskstream.cc b/libs/ardour/midi_diskstream.cc
index 3659a2ac60..6c51958caa 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/midi_diskstream.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/midi_diskstream.cc
@@ -1314,13 +1314,8 @@ MidiDiskstream::steal_write_sources()
 {
 	list<boost::shared_ptr<Source> > ret;
 
-	/* put some data on the disk, even if its just a header for an empty file.
-	   XXX should we not have a more direct method for doing this? Maybe not
-	   since we don't want to mess around with the model/disk relationship
-	   that the Source has to pay attention to.
-	*/
-
-	boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<MidiSource>(_write_source)->session_saved ();
+	/* put some data on the disk, even if its just a header for an empty file */
+	boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<SMFSource> (_write_source)->ensure_disk_file ();
 
 	/* never let it go away */
 	_write_source->mark_nonremovable ();
diff --git a/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc b/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc
index 90ee20ab66..2a02e50da7 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/smf_source.cc
@@ -578,3 +578,29 @@ SMFSource::set_path (const string& p)
 	FileSource::set_path (p);
 	SMF::set_path (_path);
 }
+
+/** Ensure that this source has some file on disk, even if it's just a SMF header */
+void
+SMFSource::ensure_disk_file ()
+{
+	if (_model) {
+		/* We have a model, so write it to disk; see MidiSource::session_saved
+		   for an explanation of what we are doing here.
+		*/
+		boost::shared_ptr<MidiModel> mm = _model;
+		_model.reset ();
+		mm->sync_to_source ();
+		_model = mm;
+	} else {
+		/* No model; if it's not already open, it's an empty source, so create
+		   and open it for writing.
+		*/
+		if (!_open) {
+			open_for_write ();
+		}
+
+		/* Flush, which will definitely put something on disk */
+		flush_midi ();
+	}
+}
+