diff --git a/beetsplug/mpdstats.py b/beetsplug/mpdstats.py
index e5e82d480..423cde2b8 100644
--- a/beetsplug/mpdstats.py
+++ b/beetsplug/mpdstats.py
@@ -107,17 +107,17 @@ class MPDClientWrapper(object):
         self.connect()
         return self.get(command, retries=retries - 1)
 
-    def playlist(self):
-        """Return the currently active playlist.  Prefixes paths with the
+    def currentsong(self):
+        """Return the path to the currently playing song.  Prefixes paths with the
         music_directory, to get the absolute path.
         """
-        result = {}
-        for entry in self.get('playlistinfo'):
+        result = None
+        entry = self.get('currentsong')
+        if 'file' in entry:
             if not is_url(entry['file']):
-                result[entry['id']] = os.path.join(
-                    self.music_directory, entry['file'])
+                result = os.path.join(self.music_directory, entry['file'])
             else:
-                result[entry['id']] = entry['file']
+                result = entry['file']
         return result
 
     def status(self):
@@ -250,12 +250,16 @@ class MPDStats(object):
         self.now_playing = None
 
     def on_play(self, status):
-        playlist = self.mpd.playlist()
-        path = playlist.get(status['songid'])
+
+        path = self.mpd.currentsong()
 
         if not path:
             return
 
+        if is_url(path):
+            self._log.info(u'playing stream {0}', displayable_path(path))
+            return
+
         played, duration = map(int, status['time'].split(':', 1))
         remaining = duration - played
 
@@ -272,14 +276,6 @@ class MPDStats(object):
                 if diff <= self.time_threshold:
                     return
 
-                if self.now_playing['path'] == path and played == 0:
-                    self.handle_song_change(self.now_playing)
-
-        if is_url(path):
-            self._log.info(u'playing stream {0}', displayable_path(path))
-            self.now_playing = None
-            return
-
         self._log.info(u'playing {0}', displayable_path(path))
 
         self.now_playing = {
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index ce04d93b4..b2c8437b6 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -190,6 +190,11 @@ Fixes:
   :bug:`3200`
 * :doc:`/plugins/lastgenre`: The `force` config option now actually works.
   :bug:`2704` :bug:`3054`
+* :doc:`/plugins/mpdstats`: Use the ``currentsong`` MPD command instead of
+  ``playlist`` to get the current song, improving performance when the playlist
+  is long.
+  Thanks to :user:`ray66`.
+  :bug:`3207` :bug:`2752`
 
 .. _python-itunes: https://github.com/ocelma/python-itunes
 
diff --git a/test/test_mpdstats.py b/test/test_mpdstats.py
index 7452be86b..0117e22aa 100644
--- a/test/test_mpdstats.py
+++ b/test/test_mpdstats.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class MPDStatsTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
 
     @patch("beetsplug.mpdstats.MPDClientWrapper", return_value=Mock(**{
         "events.side_effect": EVENTS, "status.side_effect": STATUSES,
-        "playlist.return_value": {1: item_path}}))
+        "currentsong.return_value": item_path}))
     def test_run_mpdstats(self, mpd_mock):
         item = Item(title=u'title', path=self.item_path, id=1)
         item.add(self.lib)