diff --git a/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm b/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm
index 0b7fbd26c..de23e403e 100644
--- a/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm
+++ b/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ sub new {
     
     EVT_NOTEBOOK_PAGE_CHANGED($self, $self->{preview_notebook}, sub {
         if ($self->{preview_notebook}->GetSelection == $self->{preview3D_page_idx}) {
-            $self->{preview3D}->reload_print;
+            $self->{preview3D}->load_print;
         }
     });
     
@@ -874,14 +874,16 @@ sub schedule_background_process {
     
     if (defined $self->{apply_config_timer}) {
         $self->{apply_config_timer}->Start(PROCESS_DELAY, 1);  # 1 = one shot
-        $self->{toolpaths2D}->reload_print if $self->{toolpaths2D};
-        $self->{preview3D}->reload_print if $self->{preview3D};
     }
 }
 
 sub async_apply_config {
     my ($self) = @_;
     
+    # reset preview canvases
+    $self->{toolpaths2D}->reload_print if $self->{toolpaths2D};
+    $self->{preview3D}->reload_print if $self->{preview3D};
+    
     # pause process thread before applying new config
     # since we don't want to touch data that is being used by the threads
     $self->pause_background_process;
diff --git a/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater/3DPreview.pm b/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater/3DPreview.pm
index 605463a6a..e34650538 100644
--- a/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater/3DPreview.pm
+++ b/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater/3DPreview.pm
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use Wx qw(:misc :sizer :slider :statictext wxWHITE);
 use Wx::Event qw(EVT_SLIDER EVT_KEY_DOWN);
 use base qw(Wx::Panel Class::Accessor);
 
-__PACKAGE__->mk_accessors(qw(print enabled canvas slider));
+__PACKAGE__->mk_accessors(qw(print enabled _loaded canvas slider));
 
 sub new {
     my $class = shift;
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ sub reload_print {
     my ($self) = @_;
     
     $self->canvas->reset_objects;
+    $self->_loaded(0);
+    $self->load_print;
+}
+
+sub load_print {
+    my ($self) = @_;
+    
+    return if $self->_loaded;
     
     # we require that there's at least one object and the posSlice step
     # is performed on all of them (this ensures that _shifted_copies was
@@ -112,6 +120,7 @@ sub reload_print {
             $self->canvas->load_print_object_toolpaths($object);
         }
         $self->canvas->zoom_to_volumes;
+        $self->_loaded(1);
     }
 }