diff --git a/interface/src/Application.cpp b/interface/src/Application.cpp
index 1a4d2db83e..5fc3bad8e5 100644
--- a/interface/src/Application.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/Application.cpp
@@ -6756,8 +6756,10 @@ void Application::updateWindowTitle() const {
 }
 
 void Application::clearDomainOctreeDetails() {
+    // before we delete all entities get MyAvatar's AvatarEntityData ready
+    getMyAvatar()->prepareAvatarEntityDataForReload();
 
-    // if we're about to quit, we really don't need to do any of these things...
+    // if we're about to quit, we really don't need to do the rest of these things...
     if (_aboutToQuit) {
         return;
     }
@@ -6785,9 +6787,6 @@ void Application::clearDomainOctreeDetails() {
     ShaderCache::instance().clearUnusedResources();
     DependencyManager::get<TextureCache>()->clearUnusedResources();
     DependencyManager::get<recording::ClipCache>()->clearUnusedResources();
-
-    // we just deleted all of MyAvatar's AvatarEntities so we flag it to reload from settings
-    getMyAvatar()->rememberToReloadAvatarEntityDataFromSettings();
 }
 
 void Application::domainURLChanged(QUrl domainURL) {
diff --git a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
index 2fb265dfbd..af748a14c0 100755
--- a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
@@ -1501,8 +1501,8 @@ void MyAvatar::updateAvatarEntities() {
 
     // We collect changes to AvatarEntities and then handle them all in one spot per frame: updateAvatarEntities().
     // Basically this is a "transaction pattern" with an extra complication: these changes can come from two
-    // "directions" and the "authoritative source" of each direction is different, so maintain two distinct sets of
-    // transaction lists;
+    // "directions" and the "authoritative source" of each direction is different, so we maintain two distinct sets
+    // of transaction lists:
     //
     // The _entitiesToDelete/Add/Update lists are for changes whose "authoritative sources" are already
     // correctly stored in _cachedAvatarEntityBlobs.  These come from loadAvatarEntityDataFromSettings() and
@@ -1690,10 +1690,7 @@ bool MyAvatar::updateStaleAvatarEntityBlobs() const {
         return false;
     }
 
-    std::set<QUuid> staleBlobs;
-    _avatarEntitiesLock.withWriteLock([&] {
-        staleBlobs = std::move(_staleCachedAvatarEntityBlobs);
-    });
+    std::set<QUuid> staleBlobs = std::move(_staleCachedAvatarEntityBlobs);
     int32_t numFound = 0;
     for (const auto& id : staleBlobs) {
         bool found = false;
@@ -1717,9 +1714,20 @@ bool MyAvatar::updateStaleAvatarEntityBlobs() const {
     return true;
 }
 
-void MyAvatar::rememberToReloadAvatarEntityDataFromSettings() {
-    AvatarEntityMap emptyMap;
-    setAvatarEntityData(emptyMap);
+void MyAvatar::prepareAvatarEntityDataForReload() {
+    saveAvatarEntityDataToSettings();
+
+    _avatarEntitiesLock.withWriteLock([&] {
+        _packedAvatarEntityData.clear();
+        _entitiesToDelete.clear();
+        _entitiesToAdd.clear();
+        _entitiesToUpdate.clear();
+        _cachedAvatarEntityBlobs.clear();
+        _cachedAvatarEntityBlobsToDelete.clear();
+        _cachedAvatarEntityBlobsToAddOrUpdate.clear();
+        _cachedAvatarEntityBlobUpdatesToSkip.clear();
+    });
+
     _reloadAvatarEntityDataFromSettings = true;
 }
 
diff --git a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.h b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.h
index 44f0c29b0b..38cef264a7 100644
--- a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.h
+++ b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.h
@@ -1187,7 +1187,7 @@ public:
 
     glm::vec3 getNextPosition() { return _goToPending ? _goToPosition : getWorldPosition(); }
     void updateAvatarEntities() override;
-    void rememberToReloadAvatarEntityDataFromSettings();
+    void prepareAvatarEntityDataForReload();
 
     /**jsdoc
      * Create a new grab.
@@ -1614,7 +1614,6 @@ signals:
      */
     void disableHandTouchForIDChanged(const QUuid& entityID, bool disable);
 
-
 private slots:
     void leaveDomain();
     void updateCollisionCapsuleCache();
@@ -1980,7 +1979,7 @@ private:
     std::vector<QUuid> _cachedAvatarEntityBlobUpdatesToSkip;
     //
     // Also these lists for tracking delayed changes to blobs and Settings
-    std::set<QUuid> _staleCachedAvatarEntityBlobs;
+    mutable std::set<QUuid> _staleCachedAvatarEntityBlobs;
     //
     // keep a ScriptEngine around so we don't have to instantiate on the fly (these are very slow to create/delete)
     QScriptEngine* _myScriptEngine { nullptr };