diff --git a/beetsplug/mpdstats.py b/beetsplug/mpdstats.py
index 896a34415..bcc3da808 100644
--- a/beetsplug/mpdstats.py
+++ b/beetsplug/mpdstats.py
@@ -263,25 +263,30 @@ class MPDStats(object):
         played, duration = map(int, status['time'].split(':', 1))
         remaining = duration - played
 
-        if self.now_playing and self.now_playing['path'] != path:
-            skipped = self.handle_song_change(self.now_playing)
-            # mpd responds twice on a natural new song start
-            going_to_happen_twice = not skipped
-        else:
-            going_to_happen_twice = False
+        if self.now_playing:
+            if self.now_playing['path'] != path:
+                self.handle_song_change(self.now_playing)
+            else:
+                # In case we got mpd play event with same song playing
+                # multiple times,
+                # assume low diff means redundant second play event
+                # after natural song start.
+                diff = abs(time.time() - self.now_playing['started'])
 
-        if not going_to_happen_twice:
-            self._log.info(u'playing {0}', displayable_path(path))
+                if diff <= self.time_threshold:
+                    return
 
-            self.now_playing = {
-                'started':    time.time(),
-                'remaining':  remaining,
-                'path':       path,
-                'beets_item': self.get_item(path),
-            }
+        self._log.info(u'playing {0}', displayable_path(path))
 
-            self.update_item(self.now_playing['beets_item'],
-                             'last_played', value=int(time.time()))
+        self.now_playing = {
+            'started':    time.time(),
+            'remaining':  remaining,
+            'path':       path,
+            'beets_item': self.get_item(path),
+        }
+
+        self.update_item(self.now_playing['beets_item'],
+                         'last_played', value=int(time.time()))
 
     def run(self):
         self.mpd.connect()
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 667d9b99f..3ab7940e2 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ Fixes:
 * :doc:`/plugins/bpd`: Report playback times as integer. :bug:`2394`
 * :doc:`/plugins/mpdstats`: Fix Python 3 compatibility. The plugin also now
   requires version 0.4.2 or later of the ``python-mpd2`` library. :bug:`2405`
+* :doc:`/plugins/mpdstats`: Improve handling of mpd status queries.
 
 
 1.4.3 (January 9, 2017)