diff --git a/src/pcm.c b/src/pcm.c
index 43e8279..7dec5f7 100644
--- a/src/pcm.c
+++ b/src/pcm.c
@@ -703,12 +703,6 @@ int pcm_writei(struct pcm *pcm, const void *data, unsigned int frame_count)
     x.frames = frame_count;
     x.result = 0;
     for (;;) {
-        if (!pcm->running) {
-            if (ioctl(pcm->fd, SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_WRITEI_FRAMES, &x))
-                return oops(pcm, errno, "cannot write initial data");
-            pcm->running = 1;
-            return x.result;
-        }
         if (ioctl(pcm->fd, SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_WRITEI_FRAMES, &x)) {
             pcm->prepared = 0;
             pcm->running = 0;