diff --git a/src/loader.c b/src/loader.c
index eed08e09150..a9f784ba854 100644
--- a/src/loader.c
+++ b/src/loader.c
@@ -162,22 +162,19 @@ int toku_loader_create_loader(DB_ENV *env,
     loader->close                  = toku_loader_close;
     loader->abort                  = toku_loader_abort;
 
-    int r = 0;
+    int r;
     // lock tables and check empty
     for(int i=0;i<N;i++) {
-        if (!(loader_flags&DB_PRELOCKED_WRITE)) {
-            toku_ydb_lock(); //Must hold ydb lock for acquiring locks
-            BOOL using_puts = (loader->i->loader_flags & LOADER_USE_PUTS) != 0;
-            r = toku_db_pre_acquire_table_lock(dbs[i], txn, !using_puts);
-            toku_ydb_unlock();
-            if (r!=0) break;
+        r = toku_db_pre_acquire_table_lock(dbs[i], txn, TRUE);
+        if ( r!=0 ) {
+            free_loader(loader);
+            return -1;
         }
         r = verify_empty(dbs[i], txn);
-        if (r!=0) break;
-    }
-    if ( r!=0 ) {
-        free_loader(loader);
-        return -1;
+        if ( r!=0 ) {
+            free_loader(loader);
+            return -1;
+        }
     }
 
     brt_compare_func compare_functions[N];
diff --git a/src/tests/loader-reference-test.c b/src/tests/loader-reference-test.c
index 5d4466bc99d..fbbd62d8e1a 100644
--- a/src/tests/loader-reference-test.c
+++ b/src/tests/loader-reference-test.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ DB_ENV *env;
 enum {MAX_NAME=128};
 enum {NUM_DBS=1};
 enum {NUM_KV_PAIRS=3};
+int USE_PUTS=0;
 struct kv_pair {
     int64_t key;
     int64_t val;
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ static void test_loader(DB **dbs)
         db_flags[i] = DB_NOOVERWRITE; 
         dbt_flags[i] = 0;
     }
-    uint32_t loader_flags = 0;
+    uint32_t loader_flags = USE_PUTS; // set with -p option
 
     // create and initialize loader
     r = env->txn_begin(env, NULL, &txn, 0);                                                               
@@ -170,6 +171,8 @@ static void do_args(int argc, char * const argv[]) {
 	} else if (strcmp(argv[0],"-q")==0) {
 	    verbose--;
 	    if (verbose<0) verbose=0;
+        } else if (strcmp(argv[0], "-p")==0) {
+            USE_PUTS = 1;
 	} else {
 	    fprintf(stderr, "Unknown arg: %s\n", argv[0]);
 	    resultcode=1;
diff --git a/src/tests/loader-stress-test.c b/src/tests/loader-stress-test.c
index b4ca0650841..87294b6eaa7 100644
--- a/src/tests/loader-stress-test.c
+++ b/src/tests/loader-stress-test.c
@@ -197,8 +197,16 @@ static int poll_function (void *extra, float progress) {
     return 0;
 }
 
+static struct timeval starttime;
+static double elapsed_time (void) {
+    struct timeval now;
+    gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
+    return now.tv_sec - starttime.tv_sec + 1e-6*(now.tv_usec - starttime.tv_usec);
+}
+
 static void test_loader(DB **dbs)
 {
+    gettimeofday(&starttime, NULL);
     int r;
     DB_TXN    *txn;
     DB_LOADER *loader;
@@ -237,12 +245,15 @@ static void test_loader(DB **dbs)
     poll_count=0;
 
     // close the loader
-    printf("closing"); fflush(stdout);
+    printf("%9.6fs closing", elapsed_time()); fflush(stdout);
     r = loader->close(loader);
     printf(" done\n");
     CKERR(r);
 
-    assert(poll_count>0);
+    if ( USE_PUTS == 0 ) {
+        if (poll_count == 0) printf("%s:%d\n", __FILE__, __LINE__);
+        assert(poll_count>0);
+    }
 
     r = txn->commit(txn, 0);
     CKERR(r);