diff --git a/libtorrent/src/kademlia/node.cpp b/libtorrent/src/kademlia/node.cpp
index 9a322108..226e1d31 100644
--- a/libtorrent/src/kademlia/node.cpp
+++ b/libtorrent/src/kademlia/node.cpp
@@ -1249,7 +1249,7 @@ void node_impl::incoming_request(msg const& m, entry& e)
 			return;
 		}
 
-		if (msg_keys[mk_height]->int_value() > getBestHeight() && getBestHeight()) {
+		if (msg_keys[mk_height]->int_value() > getBestHeight() && getBestHeight() > 0) {
 			incoming_error(e, "height > getBestHeight");
 			return;
 		}
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 6307a288..9c5397dd 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -727,7 +727,7 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup)
                     break;
                 }
 
-                if( mapBlockIndex.size() > 1000 && nBestHeight == 0 ) {
+                if( mapBlockIndex.size() > 1000 && nBestHeight <= 0 ) {
                     strLoadError = _("mapBlockIndex detected but nBestHeight still zero, trying to repair (reindex)");
                     break;
                 }
diff --git a/src/twister.cpp b/src/twister.cpp
index 9f427524..22903200 100644
--- a/src/twister.cpp
+++ b/src/twister.cpp
@@ -182,6 +182,11 @@ void ThreadWaitExtIP()
         MilliSleep(500);
     }
 
+    // delay libtorrent initialization until we have valid blocks
+    while( getBestHeight() <= 0 ) {
+        MilliSleep(500);
+    }
+
     error_code ec;
     int listen_port = GetListenPort() + LIBTORRENT_PORT_OFFSET;
     std::string bind_to_interface = "";
@@ -268,6 +273,10 @@ void ThreadMaintainDHTNodes()
 {
     RenameThread("maintain-dht-nodes");
 
+    while(!ses) {
+        MilliSleep(200);
+    }
+
     while(1) {
         MilliSleep(5000);
 
@@ -745,7 +754,7 @@ bool acceptSignedPost(char const *data, int data_size, std::string username, int
                 } else if( !validatePostNumberForUser(username, k) ) {
                     sprintf(errbuf,"too much posts from user '%s' rejecting post",
                             username.c_str());
-                } else if( height < 0 || (height > getBestHeight() && getBestHeight()) ) {
+                } else if( height < 0 || (height > getBestHeight() && getBestHeight() > 0) ) {
                     sprintf(errbuf,"post from future not accepted (height: %d > %d)",
                             height, getBestHeight());
                 } else if( msg.size() && msg.size() > 140 ) {
@@ -808,7 +817,7 @@ bool validatePostNumberForUser(std::string const &username, int k)
 
     if( k < 0 )
         return false;
-    if( getBestHeight() && k > 2*(getBestHeight() - pblockindex->nHeight) + 20)
+    if( getBestHeight() > 0 && k > 2*(getBestHeight() - pblockindex->nHeight) + 20)
         return false;
 
     return true;