diff --git a/src/eitd/sectionsd.cpp b/src/eitd/sectionsd.cpp
index 51d4809c9..e94ef3a8d 100644
--- a/src/eitd/sectionsd.cpp
+++ b/src/eitd/sectionsd.cpp
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ static int scanning = 1;
 
 extern bool epg_filter_is_whitelist;
 extern bool epg_filter_except_current_next;
+static bool xml_epg_filter;
 
 static bool messaging_zap_detected = false;
 /*static*/ bool dvb_time_update = false;
@@ -2153,7 +2154,7 @@ bool CEitManager::Start()
 		config.epg_cache, config.epg_extendedcache, config.epg_max_events, config.epg_old_events);
 	printf("[sectionsd] NTP: %s, server %s, command %s\n", ntpenable ? "enabled" : "disabled", ntpserver.c_str(), ntp_system_cmd_prefix.c_str());
 
-	readEPGFilter();
+	xml_epg_filter = readEPGFilter();
 
 	if (!sectionsd_server.prepare(SECTIONSD_UDS_NAME)) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "[sectionsd] failed to prepare basic server\n");
@@ -2904,6 +2905,8 @@ unsigned CEitManager::getEventsCount()
 void CEitManager::addChannelFilter(t_original_network_id onid, t_transport_stream_id tsid, t_service_id sid)
 {
 	OpenThreads::ScopedLock<OpenThreads::Mutex> slock(filter_mutex);
+	if (xml_epg_filter)
+		return;
 	epg_filter_except_current_next = true;
 	epg_filter_is_whitelist = true;
 	addEPGFilter(onid, tsid, sid);
@@ -2912,6 +2915,8 @@ void CEitManager::addChannelFilter(t_original_network_id onid, t_transport_strea
 void CEitManager::clearChannelFilters()
 {
 	OpenThreads::ScopedLock<OpenThreads::Mutex> slock(filter_mutex);
+	if (xml_epg_filter)
+		return;
 	clearEPGFilter();
 	epg_filter_is_whitelist = false;
 }
diff --git a/src/eitd/xmlutil.cpp b/src/eitd/xmlutil.cpp
index 5087cc0d8..056235116 100644
--- a/src/eitd/xmlutil.cpp
+++ b/src/eitd/xmlutil.cpp
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ static void addNoDVBTimelist(t_original_network_id onid, t_transport_stream_id t
 	}
 }
 
-void readEPGFilter(void)
+bool readEPGFilter(void)
 {
 	xmlDocPtr filter_parser = parseXmlFile(epg_filter_dir.c_str());
 
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ void readEPGFilter(void)
 		}
 	}
 	xmlFreeDoc(filter_parser);
+	return (CurrentEPGFilter != NULL);
 }
 
 void readDVBTimeFilter(void)
diff --git a/src/eitd/xmlutil.h b/src/eitd/xmlutil.h
index 91380c996..298bb54c4 100644
--- a/src/eitd/xmlutil.h
+++ b/src/eitd/xmlutil.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 void *insertEventsfromFile(void * data);
 void writeEventsToFile(char *epgdir);
 
-void readEPGFilter(void);
+bool readEPGFilter(void);
 void readDVBTimeFilter(void);
 bool checkEPGFilter(t_original_network_id onid, t_transport_stream_id tsid, t_service_id sid);
 bool checkBlacklist(t_channel_id channel_id);