diff --git a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
index 014cb7a9a5..227cce2cd2 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
@@ -230,8 +230,9 @@ void GameState::PlayersFinalized()
 
 	m_bPlayersFinalized = true;
 
-	MEMCARDMAN->PauseMountingThread();
 	MEMCARDMAN->LockCards();
+
+	/* Mount all available cards, for loading the profile and edits. */
 	MEMCARDMAN->TryMountAllCards();
 
 	// apply saved default modifiers if any
@@ -276,7 +277,6 @@ void GameState::PlayersFinalized()
 	}
 
 	MEMCARDMAN->UnmountAllUsedCards();
-	MEMCARDMAN->UnPauseMountingThread();
 }
 
 /* This data is added to each player profile, and to the machine profile per-player. */
@@ -350,7 +350,6 @@ void GameState::EndGame()
 		}
 	}
 
-	MEMCARDMAN->PauseMountingThread();
 	MEMCARDMAN->MountAllUsedCards();
 
 	BOOKKEEPER->WriteToDisk();
@@ -371,8 +370,6 @@ void GameState::EndGame()
 	MEMCARDMAN->FlushAndReset();
 	CHECKPOINT;
 
-	MEMCARDMAN->UnPauseMountingThread();
-
 	SONGMAN->FreeAllLoadedFromProfiles();
 
 	// make sure we don't execute EndGame twice.
diff --git a/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.cpp b/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.cpp
index d508945915..a361237631 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ MemoryCardManager::MemoryCardManager()
 	FOREACH_PlayerNumber( p )
 	{
 		m_bTooLate[p] = false;
+		m_bMounted[p] = false;
 	}
 	
 	/* These can play at any time.  Preload them, so we don't cause a skip in gameplay. */
@@ -261,6 +262,8 @@ void MemoryCardManager::MountAllUsedCards()
 	}
 }
 
+/* Called in EndGame just after writing the profile.  Called by PlayersFinalized just after
+ * reading the profile.  Should never block; use FlushAndReset to block until writes complete. */
 void MemoryCardManager::UnmountAllUsedCards()
 {
 	FOREACH_EnabledPlayer( p )
@@ -279,8 +282,23 @@ void MemoryCardManager::MountCard( PlayerNumber pn )
 {
 	ASSERT( !m_Device[pn].IsBlank() );
 
+	/* Pause the mounting thread when we mount the first drive. */
+	bool bNeedPause = true;
+	FOREACH_PlayerNumber( p )
+		if( m_bMounted[p] )
+			bNeedPause = false;
+	if( bNeedPause )
+		this->PauseMountingThread();
+
 	if( !m_pDriver->MountAndTestWrite(&m_Device[pn]) )
+	{
+		if( bNeedPause )
+			this->UnPauseMountingThread();
+
 		return;
+	}
+
+	m_bMounted[p] = true;
 
 	/* If this is the first time we're mounting the device, mount the VFS drivers.
 	 * Simply mounting our VFS on a directory doesn't actually touch the directory,
@@ -305,8 +323,21 @@ void MemoryCardManager::UnmountCard( PlayerNumber pn )
 {
 	ASSERT( !m_Device[pn].IsBlank() );
 
+	if( !m_bMounted[pn] )
+		return;
+
 	/* Leave our own filesystem drivers mounted. */
 	m_pDriver->Unmount( &m_Device[pn] );
+
+	m_bMounted[pn] = false;
+
+	/* Unpause the mounting thread when we unmount the last drive. */
+	bool bNeedUnpause = true;
+	FOREACH_PlayerNumber( p )
+		if( m_bMounted[p] )
+			bNeedUnpause = false;
+	if( bNeedUnpause )
+		this->UnPauseMountingThread();
 }
 
 void MemoryCardManager::FlushAndReset()
diff --git a/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.h b/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.h
index 7e6e41b9be..6ce7f7c521 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/MemoryCardManager.h
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ public:
 
 	MemoryCardState GetCardState( PlayerNumber pn );
 	
-//	CString GetOsMountDir( PlayerNumber pn );	// only valid when state = ready
-
 	void LockCards();	// prevent removing or changing of memory cards
 	void UnlockCards();
 	void TryMountAllCards();
@@ -29,9 +27,6 @@ public:
 	void MountCard( PlayerNumber pn );
 	void UnmountCard( PlayerNumber pn );
 	
-	void PauseMountingThread();	// call this before mouting, reading, or writing to memory card
-	void UnPauseMountingThread();	// call this when done mouting, reading, or writing to memory card
-	
 	void FlushAndReset();	// force all files to be flushed to mounted memory cards
 
 	bool PathIsMemCard( CString sDir ) const;
@@ -41,6 +36,8 @@ public:
 
 protected:
 	void UpdateUnassignedCards();	// do our best to assign a Device to each player
+	void PauseMountingThread();	// call this before mouting, reading, or writing to memory card
+	void UnPauseMountingThread();	// call this when done mouting, reading, or writing to memory card
 
 	MemoryCardDriver *m_pDriver;
 
@@ -48,6 +45,7 @@ protected:
 
 	bool	m_bCardsLocked;
 	bool	m_bTooLate[NUM_PLAYERS];	// card was inserted after lock
+	bool	m_bMounted[NUM_PLAYERS];	// card is currently mounted
 	UsbStorageDevice m_Device[NUM_PLAYERS];	// device in the memory card slot, NULL if none
 
 	RageSound m_soundReady;
diff --git a/stepmania/src/ScreenEvaluation.cpp b/stepmania/src/ScreenEvaluation.cpp
index e417d79d6c..70496972bc 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/ScreenEvaluation.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/ScreenEvaluation.cpp
@@ -1357,7 +1357,6 @@ void ScreenEvaluation::Input( const DeviceInput& DeviceI, const InputEventType t
 			if( !m_bSavedScreenshot[pn]  &&	// only allow one screenshot
 				PROFILEMAN->IsUsingProfile(pn) )
 			{
-				MEMCARDMAN->PauseMountingThread();
 				if( PROFILEMAN->ProfileWasLoadedFromMemoryCard(pn) )
 					MEMCARDMAN->MountCard( pn );
 			
@@ -1369,7 +1368,6 @@ void ScreenEvaluation::Input( const DeviceInput& DeviceI, const InputEventType t
 				
 				if( PROFILEMAN->ProfileWasLoadedFromMemoryCard(pn) )
 					MEMCARDMAN->UnmountCard( pn );
-				MEMCARDMAN->UnPauseMountingThread();
 
 				if( !sFileName.empty() )
 				{