diff --git a/pdbApp/pvif.cpp b/pdbApp/pvif.cpp
index 05162a5..74ba821 100644
--- a/pdbApp/pvif.cpp
+++ b/pdbApp/pvif.cpp
@@ -384,8 +384,8 @@ struct PVIFScalarNumeric : public PVIF
 
     virtual void get(epics::pvData::BitSet& mask)
     {
-        getValue(pvmeta);
-        mask |= pvmeta.maskVALUE;
+        if(mask.bitwise_and(pvmeta.maskVALUE))
+            getValue(pvmeta);
     }
 
 };