diff --git a/stepmania/src/Course.cpp b/stepmania/src/Course.cpp
index 406df0071c..288f6f4f80 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/Course.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/Course.cpp
@@ -922,19 +922,24 @@ void Course::UpdateCourseStats()
 			SortOrder_TotalDifficulty = 999999;     // large number
 			return;
 		}
-
 		SortOrder_TotalDifficulty += ci[i].pNotes->GetMeter();
 	}
 
 	SortOrder_AvgDifficulty = (float)SortOrder_TotalDifficulty/GetEstimatedNumStages();
 	if (GetEstimatedNumStages() > 7) SortOrder_Ranking = 3;
 
-	CStringArray RankingCourses;
+	// HACK: this function takes a while to execute because of
+	// the ranking portion at the end.  Do so only if it is
+	// absolutely necessary.
+	if (PREFSMAN->m_iCourseSortOrder == PrefsManager::COURSE_SORT_RANK)
+	{
+		CStringArray RankingCourses;
 
-	split( THEME->GetMetric("ScreenRanking","CoursesToShow"),",", RankingCourses);
+		split( THEME->GetMetric("ScreenRanking","CoursesToShow"),",", RankingCourses);
 
-	for(i = 0; i < RankingCourses.size(); i++)
-		if (!RankingCourses[i].CompareNoCase(this->m_sPath))
-			SortOrder_Ranking = 1;
+		for(i = 0; i < RankingCourses.size(); i++)
+			if (!RankingCourses[i].CompareNoCase(this->m_sPath))
+				SortOrder_Ranking = 1;
+	}
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file