diff --git a/plugins/libplugin-pay.c b/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
index 496ea0766..d8a2d53b3 100644
--- a/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
+++ b/plugins/libplugin-pay.c
@@ -3264,6 +3264,9 @@ static void waitblockheight_cb(void *d, struct payment *p)
 	/* Check if we'd be waiting more than 0 seconds. If we have
 	 * less than a second then waitblockheight would return
 	 * immediately resulting in a loop. */
+	if (time_after(now, p->deadline))
+		return payment_continue(p);
+
 	remaining = time_between(p->deadline, now);
 	if (time_to_sec(remaining) < 1)
 		return payment_continue(p);