diff --git a/src/Series.cpp b/src/Series.cpp
index 01301b1d7b..dcd6530322 100644
--- a/src/Series.cpp
+++ b/src/Series.cpp
@@ -911,7 +911,6 @@ void Series::readFileBased()
         bool atLeastOneIterationSuccessful = false;
         for (auto &iteration : series.iterations)
         {
-            readIterationEagerly(iteration.second);
             if (auto error = readIterationEagerly(iteration.second); error)
             {
                 std::cerr << "Cannot read iteration '" << iteration.first
diff --git a/test/SerialIOTest.cpp b/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
index e45168dc1b..79208874e8 100644
--- a/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
+++ b/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
@@ -5305,7 +5305,7 @@ void deferred_parsing(std::string const &extension)
         Series series(basename + "%06T." + extension, Access::CREATE);
         std::vector<float> buffer(20);
         std::iota(buffer.begin(), buffer.end(), 0.f);
-        auto dataset = series.iterations[1000].meshes["E"]["x"];
+        auto dataset = series.iterations[0].meshes["E"]["x"];
         dataset.resetDataset({Datatype::FLOAT, {20}});
         dataset.storeChunk(buffer, {0}, {20});
         series.flush();
@@ -5313,7 +5313,7 @@ void deferred_parsing(std::string const &extension)
     // create some empty pseudo files
     // if the reader tries accessing them it's game over
     {
-        for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000; i += 100)
+        for (size_t i = 1; i < 1000; i += 100)
         {
             std::string infix = std::to_string(i);
             std::string padding;
@@ -5333,7 +5333,7 @@ void deferred_parsing(std::string const &extension)
             Access::READ_ONLY,
             "{\"defer_iteration_parsing\": true}");
         auto dataset =
-            series.iterations[1000].open().meshes["E"]["x"].loadChunk<float>(
+            series.iterations[0].open().meshes["E"]["x"].loadChunk<float>(
                 {0}, {20});
         series.flush();
         for (size_t i = 0; i < 20; ++i)
@@ -5349,7 +5349,7 @@ void deferred_parsing(std::string const &extension)
             Access::READ_WRITE,
             "{\"defer_iteration_parsing\": true}");
         auto dataset =
-            series.iterations[1000].open().meshes["E"]["x"].loadChunk<float>(
+            series.iterations[0].open().meshes["E"]["x"].loadChunk<float>(
                 {0}, {20});
         series.flush();
         for (size_t i = 0; i < 20; ++i)