diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
index 4b273b3db103be0f37b4d10a209a36bd5b238963..ff511dba5dcb3507a2f6e80e68426d0da91836f0 100644
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
@@ -754,6 +754,11 @@ for output_file_number, (svd_bank, output_filename, likelihood_namedtuple, zero_
 		signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, OneTimeSignalHandler(pipeline))
 
 
+	if options.verbose:
+		print >>sys.stderr, "setting pipeline state to paused ..."
+	if pipeline.set_state(Gst.State.PAUSED) != Gst.StateChangeReturn.SUCCESS:
+		raise RuntimeError("pipeline did not enter paused state")
+	datasource.pipeline_seek_for_gps(pipeline, detectors.seg[0], detectors.seg[1])
 	if options.verbose:
 		print >>sys.stderr, "setting pipeline state to playing ..."
 	if pipeline.set_state(Gst.State.PLAYING) != Gst.StateChangeReturn.SUCCESS: