diff --git a/src/compute.cpp b/src/compute.cpp
index fde11f6c7f..ca42519273 100644
--- a/src/compute.cpp
+++ b/src/compute.cpp
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ Compute::Compute(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg) : Pointers(lmp)
 
   invoked_scalar = invoked_vector = invoked_array = -1;
   invoked_peratom = invoked_local = -1;
+  invoked_flag = 0;
 
   // set modify defaults
 
diff --git a/src/dump_custom.cpp b/src/dump_custom.cpp
index 56a38e2402..87b7e85fa4 100644
--- a/src/dump_custom.cpp
+++ b/src/dump_custom.cpp
@@ -402,13 +402,24 @@ int DumpCustom::count()
   }
 
   // invoke Computes for per-atom quantities
+  // only if within a run or minimize
+  // else require that computes are current
+  // this prevents a compute from being invoked by the WriteDump class
 
   if (ncompute) {
-    for (i = 0; i < ncompute; i++)
-      if (!(compute[i]->invoked_flag & INVOKED_PERATOM)) {
-        compute[i]->compute_peratom();
-        compute[i]->invoked_flag |= INVOKED_PERATOM;
+    if (update->whichflag == 0) {
+      for (i = 0; i < ncompute; i++)
+        if (compute[i]->invoked_peratom != update->ntimestep)
+          error->all(FLERR,"Compute used in write_dump between runs "
+                     "is not current");
+    } else {
+      for (i = 0; i < ncompute; i++) {
+        if (!(compute[i]->invoked_flag & INVOKED_PERATOM)) {
+          compute[i]->compute_peratom();
+          compute[i]->invoked_flag |= INVOKED_PERATOM;
+        }
       }
+    }
   }
 
   // evaluate atom-style Variables for per-atom quantities