diff --git a/src/apps/showimage/ImageCache.cpp b/src/apps/showimage/ImageCache.cpp
index d96eb16401..7eb6fec1d6 100644
--- a/src/apps/showimage/ImageCache.cpp
+++ b/src/apps/showimage/ImageCache.cpp
@@ -111,8 +111,7 @@ ImageCache::RetrieveImage(const entry_ref& ref, int32 page,
 		entry->ref = ref;
 		entry->page = page;
 
-		if (fThreadCount < fMaxThreadCount
-			|| (target != NULL && fThreadCount == fMaxThreadCount)) {
+		if (fThreadCount < fMaxThreadCount) {
 			// start a new worker thread to load the image
 			thread_id thread = spawn_thread(&ImageCache::_QueueWorkerThread,
 				"image loader", B_LOW_PRIORITY, this);