diff --git a/interface/src/VoxelSystem.cpp b/interface/src/VoxelSystem.cpp
index 1005da8850..5ee098a775 100644
--- a/interface/src/VoxelSystem.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/VoxelSystem.cpp
@@ -149,7 +149,12 @@ int VoxelSystem::parseData(unsigned char* sourceBuffer, int numBytes) {
 
 void VoxelSystem::setupNewVoxelsForDrawing() {
     double start = usecTimestampNow();
-    _voxelsUpdated = newTreeToArrays(_tree->rootNode);
+    if (_tree->isDirty()) {
+        _voxelsUpdated = newTreeToArrays(_tree->rootNode);
+        _tree->clearDirtyBit(); // after we pull the trees into the array, we can consider the tree clean
+    } else {
+        _voxelsUpdated = 0;
+    }
     if (_voxelsUpdated) {
         _voxelsDirty=true;
     }
@@ -248,8 +253,8 @@ int VoxelSystem::newTreeToArrays(VoxelNode* node) {
             _voxelsInArrays++; // our know vertices in the arrays
         }
         voxelsUpdated++;
-        node->clearDirtyBit();
     }
+    node->clearDirtyBit(); // always clear the dirty bit, even if it doesn't need to be rendered
     return voxelsUpdated;
 }
 
diff --git a/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelNode.cpp b/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelNode.cpp
index 776aec7a9a..80da795fe1 100644
--- a/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelNode.cpp
+++ b/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelNode.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ void VoxelNode::setFalseColored(bool isFalseColored) {
 
 void VoxelNode::setColor(const nodeColor& color) {
     if (_trueColor[0] != color[0] || _trueColor[1] != color[1] || _trueColor[2] != color[2]) {
+        //printLog("VoxelNode::setColor() was: (%d,%d,%d) is: (%d,%d,%d)\n",
+        //    _trueColor[0],_trueColor[1],_trueColor[2],color[0],color[1],color[2]);
         memcpy(&_trueColor,&color,sizeof(nodeColor));
         if (!_falseColored) {
             memcpy(&_currentColor,&color,sizeof(nodeColor));
diff --git a/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.cpp b/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.cpp
index ba13ee1c28..f781c16b0d 100644
--- a/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.cpp
+++ b/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.cpp
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ VoxelTree::VoxelTree() :
     voxelsBytesRead(0),
     voxelsCreatedStats(100),
     voxelsColoredStats(100),
-    voxelsBytesReadStats(100) {
+    voxelsBytesReadStats(100),
+    _isDirty(true) {
         
     rootNode = new VoxelNode();
     rootNode->octalCode = new unsigned char[1];
@@ -127,10 +128,13 @@ int VoxelTree::readNodeData(VoxelNode* destinationNode,
         // check the colors mask to see if we have a child to color in
         if (oneAtBit(*nodeData, i)) {
             // create the child if it doesn't exist
-            if (destinationNode->children[i] == NULL) {
+            if (!destinationNode->children[i]) {
                 destinationNode->addChildAtIndex(i);
-                this->voxelsCreated++;
-                this->voxelsCreatedStats.updateAverage(1);
+                if (destinationNode->isDirty()) {
+                    _isDirty = true;
+                }
+                voxelsCreated++;
+                voxelsCreatedStats.updateAverage(1);
             }
 
             // pull the color for this child
@@ -138,6 +142,9 @@ int VoxelTree::readNodeData(VoxelNode* destinationNode,
             memcpy(newColor, nodeData + bytesRead, 3);
             newColor[3] = 1;
             destinationNode->children[i]->setColor(newColor);
+            if (destinationNode->children[i]->isDirty()) {
+                _isDirty = true;
+            }
 			this->voxelsColored++;
 			this->voxelsColoredStats.updateAverage(1);
            
@@ -146,6 +153,9 @@ int VoxelTree::readNodeData(VoxelNode* destinationNode,
     }
     // average node's color based on color of children
     destinationNode->setColorFromAverageOfChildren();
+    if (destinationNode->isDirty()) {
+        _isDirty = true;
+    }
 
     // give this destination node the child mask from the packet
     unsigned char childMask = *(nodeData + bytesRead);
@@ -157,9 +167,12 @@ int VoxelTree::readNodeData(VoxelNode* destinationNode,
         // check the exists mask to see if we have a child to traverse into
         
         if (oneAtBit(childMask, childIndex)) {            
-            if (destinationNode->children[childIndex] == NULL) {
+            if (!destinationNode->children[childIndex]) {
                 // add a child at that index, if it doesn't exist
                 destinationNode->addChildAtIndex(childIndex);
+                if (destinationNode->isDirty()) {
+                    _isDirty = true;
+                }
                 this->voxelsCreated++;
                 this->voxelsCreatedStats.updateAverage(this->voxelsCreated);
             }
@@ -193,6 +206,9 @@ void VoxelTree::readBitstreamToTree(unsigned char * bitstream, int bufferSizeByt
             // Note: we need to create this node relative to root, because we're assuming that the bitstream for the initial
             // octal code is always relative to root!
             bitstreamRootNode = createMissingNode(rootNode, (unsigned char*) bitstreamAt);
+            if (bitstreamRootNode->isDirty()) {
+                _isDirty = true;
+            }
         }
 
         int octalCodeBytes = bytesRequiredForCodeLength(*bitstreamAt);
diff --git a/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.h b/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.h
index 7f5a6b866b..1209868c62 100644
--- a/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.h
+++ b/libraries/voxels/src/VoxelTree.h
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ public:
                             VoxelNodeBag& bag);
 
     int searchForColoredNodes(int maxSearchLevel, VoxelNode* node, const ViewFrustum& viewFrustum, VoxelNodeBag& bag);
+
+    bool isDirty() const { return _isDirty; };
+    void clearDirtyBit() { _isDirty = false; };
     
 private:
     int encodeTreeBitstreamRecursion(int maxEncodeLevel, int& currentEncodeLevel,
@@ -68,6 +71,8 @@ private:
     VoxelNode* nodeForOctalCode(VoxelNode* ancestorNode, unsigned char* needleCode, VoxelNode** parentOfFoundNode);
     VoxelNode* createMissingNode(VoxelNode* lastParentNode, unsigned char* deepestCodeToCreate);
     int readNodeData(VoxelNode *destinationNode, unsigned char* nodeData, int bufferSizeBytes);
+    
+    bool _isDirty;
 };
 
 int boundaryDistanceForRenderLevel(unsigned int renderLevel);