diff --git a/src/w_wad.c b/src/w_wad.c
index 29c5764f9..529be847a 100644
--- a/src/w_wad.c
+++ b/src/w_wad.c
@@ -777,6 +777,8 @@ UINT16 W_InitFile(const char *filename, boolean mainfile, boolean startup)
 		if (!memcmp(wadfiles[i]->md5sum, md5sum, 16))
 		{
 			CONS_Alert(CONS_ERROR, M_GetText("%s is already loaded\n"), filename);
+			if (important)
+				packetsizetally -= nameonlylength(filename) + 22;
 			if (handle)
 				fclose(handle);
 			return W_InitFileError(filename, false);