diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodQuadTree.java b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodQuadTree.java
index b07dc4f93..c71bd2c03 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodQuadTree.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodQuadTree.java
@@ -343,7 +343,11 @@ public class LodQuadTree extends QuadTree<LodRenderSection> implements IDebugRen
 			
 			
 			// prepare this section for rendering
-			if (!renderSection.gpuUploadInProgress() && renderSection.renderBuffer == null)
+			if (!renderSection.gpuUploadInProgress()
+				&& renderSection.renderBuffer == null
+				// this check is specifically for N-sized world generators where the higher quality
+				// data source may not exist yet
+				&& renderSection.getFullDataSourceExists())
 			{
 				nodesNeedingLoading.add(renderSection);
 			}
@@ -417,20 +421,25 @@ public class LodQuadTree extends QuadTree<LodRenderSection> implements IDebugRen
 			{
 				// the section only needs to be updated if a buffer is currently present 
 				LodRenderSection renderSection = this.getValue(pos);
-				if (renderSection != null
-					&& renderSection.canRender())
+				if (renderSection != null)
 				{
-					if (!renderSection.gpuUploadInProgress())
+					// this data source may now exist
+					renderSection.updateFullDataSourceExists();	
+					
+					if (renderSection.canRender())
 					{
-						renderSection.uploadRenderDataToGpuAsync();
-					}
-					else
-					{
-						// if a section is already loading we need to wait to trigger it again
-						// if we don't trigger it again the LOD will be out of date
-						// and may be invisible/missing
-						positionsToRequeue.add(pos);
-						break;
+						if (!renderSection.gpuUploadInProgress())
+						{
+							renderSection.uploadRenderDataToGpuAsync();
+						}
+						else
+						{
+							// if a section is already loading we need to wait to trigger it again
+							// if we don't trigger it again the LOD will be out of date
+							// and may be invisible/missing
+							positionsToRequeue.add(pos);
+							break;
+						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
@@ -716,4 +725,6 @@ public class LodQuadTree extends QuadTree<LodRenderSection> implements IDebugRen
 		LOGGER.info("Finished shutting down " + LodQuadTree.class.getSimpleName());
 	}
 	
+	
+	
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodRenderSection.java b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodRenderSection.java
index 04737d943..334cba2cc 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodRenderSection.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/seibel/distanthorizons/core/render/LodRenderSection.java
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ public class LodRenderSection implements IDebugRenderable, AutoCloseable
 	/** should be an empty array if no positions need to be generated */
 	private LongArrayList missingGenerationPos = null;
 	
+	private boolean checkedIfFullDataSourceExists = false;
+	private boolean fullDataSourceExists = false;
+	
 	
 	
 	//=============//
@@ -429,6 +432,28 @@ public class LodRenderSection implements IDebugRenderable, AutoCloseable
 	//=================================//
 	
 	public boolean isFullyGenerated() { return this.missingPositionsCalculated && this.missingGenerationPos.isEmpty(); }
+	/** Returns true if an LOD exists, regardless of what data is in it */
+	public boolean getFullDataSourceExists() 
+	{  
+		if (!this.checkedIfFullDataSourceExists)
+		{
+			this.fullDataSourceExists = this.fullDataSourceProvider.repo.existsWithKey(this.pos);
+			this.checkedIfFullDataSourceExists = true;
+		}
+		
+		return this.fullDataSourceExists;
+	}
+	public void updateFullDataSourceExists() 
+	{
+		// we don't have any ability to remove LODs so we only
+		// need to check if an LOD was previously missing
+		if (!this.fullDataSourceExists)
+		{
+			this.checkedIfFullDataSourceExists = false;
+			this.getFullDataSourceExists();
+		}
+	}
+	
 	public boolean missingPositionsCalculated() { return this.missingPositionsCalculated; }
 	public int ungeneratedPositionCount() { return (this.missingGenerationPos != null) ? this.missingGenerationPos.size() : 0; }