diff --git a/nest/rt-table.c b/nest/rt-table.c
index fab8f06d..3428c122 100644
--- a/nest/rt-table.c
+++ b/nest/rt-table.c
@@ -3072,7 +3072,7 @@ again:
     }
 
   /* In some cases, we may want to directly proceed to export cleanup */
-  if (EMPTY_LIST(tab->exporter.e.hooks) && tab->wait_counter)
+  if (tab->wait_counter && (EMPTY_LIST(tab->exporter.e.hooks) || !tab->exporter.first))
     rt_export_cleanup(tab);
 }