diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/Maxwell.java b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/Maxwell.java
index e488241b9..b1a180eeb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/Maxwell.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/Maxwell.java
@@ -177,7 +177,8 @@ protected Position getInitialPosition() throws Exception {
 			/* fourth method: capture the current master position. */
 			if ( initial == null ) {
 				try ( Connection c = context.getReplicationConnection() ) {
-					initial = Position.capture(c, config.gtidMode);
+					long lastHeartbeatRead = context.getLastHeartbeat();
+					initial = Position.capture(c, config.gtidMode, lastHeartbeatRead);
 				}
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/MaxwellContext.java b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/MaxwellContext.java
index 74b49373b..fd357fb7c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/MaxwellContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/MaxwellContext.java
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ public void start() throws IOException {
 		getPositionStoreThread(); // boot up thread explicitly.
 	}
 
+	public long getLastHeartbeat() throws Exception {
+		return this.positionStore.getHeartbeat();
+	}
+
 	public long heartbeat() throws Exception {
 		return this.positionStore.heartbeat();
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/producer/MaxwellKafkaProducer.java b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/producer/MaxwellKafkaProducer.java
index 470626c61..a3eef207a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/producer/MaxwellKafkaProducer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/producer/MaxwellKafkaProducer.java
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ private void publishFallback(RecordMetadata md, Exception e) {
 		// with no fallback topic to avoid infinite loops
 		KafkaCallback cb = new KafkaCallback(cc, position, key, json,
 				succeededMessageCount, failedMessageCount, succeededMessageMeter,
-				failedMessageMeter, topic, null, context, producer);
+				failedMessageMeter, fallbackTopic, null, context, producer);
 		producer.enqueueFallbackRow(fallbackTopic, key, cb, md, e);
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/replication/Position.java b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/replication/Position.java
index 2eb0a97bf..951ddda98 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/replication/Position.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/replication/Position.java
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ public Position withHeartbeat(long lastHeartbeatRead) {
 	}
 
 	public static Position capture(Connection c, boolean gtidMode) throws SQLException {
-		return new Position(BinlogPosition.capture(c, gtidMode), 0L);
+		return capture(c, gtidMode, 0L);
+	}
+
+	public static Position capture(Connection c, boolean gtidMode, long lastHeartbeatRead) throws SQLException {
+		return new Position(BinlogPosition.capture(c, gtidMode), lastHeartbeatRead);
 	}
 
 	public long getLastHeartbeatRead() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/schema/MysqlPositionStore.java b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/schema/MysqlPositionStore.java
index 92c3a0765..00f30e5ea 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/schema/MysqlPositionStore.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zendesk/maxwell/schema/MysqlPositionStore.java
@@ -16,10 +16,9 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-
 public class MysqlPositionStore {
 	static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MysqlPositionStore.class);
-	private static final Long DEFAULT_GTID_SERVER_ID = new Long(0);
+	private static final Long DEFAULT_GTID_SERVER_ID = 0L;
 	private final Long serverID;
 	private String clientID;
 	private final boolean gtidMode;
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ public void set(Position newPosition) throws SQLException, DuplicateProcessExcep
 		if ( newPosition == null )
 			return;
 
-		Long heartbeat = newPosition.getLastHeartbeatRead();
+		long heartbeat = newPosition.getLastHeartbeatRead();
 
 		String sql = "INSERT INTO `positions` set "
 				+ "server_id = ?, "
@@ -87,6 +86,12 @@ public synchronized void heartbeat(long heartbeatValue) throws SQLException, Dup
 		});
 	}
 
+	public long getHeartbeat() throws SQLException {
+		try (Connection connection = connectionPool.getConnection()) {
+			return getHeartbeat(connection);
+		}
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * the heartbeat system performs two functions:
 	 * 1 - it leaves pointers in the binlog in order to facilitate master recovery
@@ -95,9 +100,23 @@ public synchronized void heartbeat(long heartbeatValue) throws SQLException, Dup
 
 	private Long lastHeartbeat = null;
 
-	private Long insertHeartbeat(Connection c, Long thisHeartbeat) throws SQLException, DuplicateProcessException {
-		String heartbeatInsert = "insert into `heartbeats` set `heartbeat` = ?, `server_id` = ?, `client_id` = ?";
+	private long getHeartbeat(Connection c) throws SQLException {
+		try ( PreparedStatement s = c.prepareStatement("SELECT `heartbeat` from `heartbeats` where server_id = ? and client_id = ?") ) {
+			s.setLong(1, serverID);
+			s.setString(2, clientID);
+
+			try ( ResultSet rs = s.executeQuery() ) {
+				if ( !rs.next() ) {
+					return 0L;
+				} else {
+					return rs.getLong("heartbeat");
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
 
+	private void insertHeartbeat(Connection c, Long thisHeartbeat) throws SQLException, DuplicateProcessException {
+		String heartbeatInsert = "insert into `heartbeats` set `heartbeat` = ?, `server_id` = ?, `client_id` = ?";
 
 		try ( PreparedStatement s = c.prepareStatement(heartbeatInsert) ) {
 			s.setLong(1, thisHeartbeat);
@@ -105,7 +124,6 @@ private Long insertHeartbeat(Connection c, Long thisHeartbeat) throws SQLExcepti
 			s.setString(3, clientID);
 
 			s.execute();
-			return thisHeartbeat;
 		} catch ( SQLIntegrityConstraintViolationException e ) {
 			throw new DuplicateProcessException("Found heartbeat row for client,position while trying to insert.  Is another maxwell running?");
 		}
@@ -113,19 +131,14 @@ private Long insertHeartbeat(Connection c, Long thisHeartbeat) throws SQLExcepti
 
 	private void heartbeat(Connection c, long thisHeartbeat) throws SQLException, DuplicateProcessException {
 		if ( lastHeartbeat == null ) {
-			try ( PreparedStatement s = c.prepareStatement("SELECT `heartbeat` from `heartbeats` where server_id = ? and client_id = ?") ) {
-				s.setLong(1, serverID);
-				s.setString(2, clientID);
-
-				try ( ResultSet rs = s.executeQuery() ) {
-					if ( !rs.next() ) {
-						insertHeartbeat(c, thisHeartbeat);
-						lastHeartbeat = thisHeartbeat;
-						return;
-					} else {
-						lastHeartbeat = rs.getLong("heartbeat");
-					}
-				}
+			long storedHeartbeat = getHeartbeat(c);
+
+			if (storedHeartbeat > 0) {
+				lastHeartbeat = storedHeartbeat;
+			} else {
+				insertHeartbeat(c, thisHeartbeat);
+				lastHeartbeat = thisHeartbeat;
+				return;
 			}
 		}