diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-compose.el b/mu4e/mu4e-compose.el
index a57225e6..9af94066 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-compose.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-compose.el
@@ -456,7 +456,8 @@ buffers; lets remap its faces so it uses the ones for mu4e."
       (setq message-default-charset 'utf-8))
     ;; make sure mu4e is started in the background (ie. we don't want to error
     ;; out when sending the message; better to do it now if there's a problem)
-    (mu4e~start) ;; start mu4e in background, if needed
+    (unless (mu4e-running-p)
+      (mu4e~start)) ;; start mu4e in background, if needed
     (mu4e~compose-register-message-save-hooks)
     ;; set the default directory to the user's home dir; this is probably more
     ;; useful e.g. when finding an attachment file the directory the current
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-context.el b/mu4e/mu4e-context.el
index 9107daef..15af96da 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-context.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-context.el
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ non-nil."
   "When contexts are defined but there is no context yet, switch
 to the first whose :match-func return non-nil. If none of them
 match, return the first. For MSG and POLICY, see `mu4e-context-determine'."
-  (when (and mu4e-contexts (not mu4e~context-current))
+  (when mu4e-contexts
     (let ((context (mu4e-context-determine msg policy)))
       (when context (mu4e-context-switch
                      nil (mu4e-context-name context))))))
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-utils.el b/mu4e/mu4e-utils.el
index 2eb8106d..01cd44a0 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-utils.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-utils.el
@@ -780,7 +780,8 @@ nothing."
   "Handle 'pong' responses from the mu server."
   (setq mu4e~server-props (plist-get data :props)) ;; save info from the server
   (let ((doccount (plist-get mu4e~server-props :doccount)))
-    (mu4e~context-autoswitch nil mu4e-context-policy)
+    (unless (mu4e-context-current)
+      (mu4e~context-autoswitch nil mu4e-context-policy))
     (mu4e~check-requirements)
     (when func (funcall func))
     (when (zerop doccount)