diff --git a/lib/nodes/loopback.cpp b/lib/nodes/loopback.cpp
index 68e0e21b5..c90cd3a8e 100644
--- a/lib/nodes/loopback.cpp
+++ b/lib/nodes/loopback.cpp
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ static void register_plugin() {
 	p.type			= PluginType::NODE;
 	p.node.instances.state	= State::DESTROYED;
 	p.node.vectorize	= 0;
-	p.node.flags		= (int) NodeFlags::PROVIDES_SIGNALS;
+	p.node.flags		= 0;
 	p.node.size		= sizeof(struct loopback);
 	p.node.parse		= loopback_parse;
 	p.node.print		= loopback_print;
diff --git a/lib/path.cpp b/lib/path.cpp
index 245082bac..dd3960b5a 100644
--- a/lib/path.cpp
+++ b/lib/path.cpp
@@ -148,6 +148,9 @@ int path_init(struct path *p)
 
 	p->_name = nullptr;
 
+	p->reader.pfds = nullptr;
+	p->reader.nfds = 0;
+
 	/* Default values */
 	p->mode = PathMode::ANY;
 	p->rate = 0; /* Disabled */
@@ -168,6 +171,9 @@ static int path_prepare_poll(struct path *p)
 {
 	int fds[16], ret, n = 0, m;
 
+	if (p->reader.pfds)
+		free(p->reader.pfds);
+
 	p->reader.pfds = nullptr;
 	p->reader.nfds = 0;
 
@@ -297,13 +303,6 @@ int path_prepare(struct path *p)
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	/* Prepare poll() */
-	if (p->poll) {
-		ret = path_prepare_poll(p);
-		if (ret)
-			return ret;
-	}
-
 	if (p->original_sequence_no == -1)
 		p->original_sequence_no = vlist_length(&p->sources) == 1;
 
@@ -628,6 +627,15 @@ int path_start(struct path *p)
 		p->last_sample->data[i] = sig->init;
 	}
 
+	/* Prepare poll() */
+	if (p->poll) {
+		ret = path_prepare_poll(p);
+		if (ret)
+			return ret;
+	}
+
+	p->state = State::STARTED;
+
 	/* Start one thread per path for sending to destinations
 	 *
 	 * Special case: If the path only has a single source and this source
@@ -638,8 +646,6 @@ int path_start(struct path *p)
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	p->state = State::STARTED;
-
 	return 0;
 }