diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java
index bdce2cc09..72bec8c7c 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java
@@ -321,10 +321,10 @@ public class BoardView extends View implements BoardHandler, SyncedDraw {
             }
         }
 
-        // Force update now that we have bits to copy
-        if ( drew ) {
-            m_parent.runOnUiThread( m_invalidator );
-        }
+        // Force update now that we have bits to copy. I don't know why (yet),
+        // but on older versions of Android we need to run this even if drew
+        // is false
+        m_parent.runOnUiThread( m_invalidator );
     }
 
     public void dimsChanged( BoardDims dims )