diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/iterator.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/iterator.py
index f794f7e605..372baf0959 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/iterator.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/iterator.py
@@ -174,11 +174,13 @@ class EbookIterator(object):
                 plumber.opts, plumber.input_fmt, self.log,
                 {}, self.base)
 
-        if hasattr(self.pathtoopf, 'manifest'):
-            self.pathtoopf = write_oebbook(self.pathtoopf, self.base)
-        elif processed or plumber.input_fmt.lower() in ('pdf', 'rb'):
+        if processed or plumber.input_fmt.lower() in ('pdf', 'rb') and \
+                not hasattr(self.pathtoopf, 'manifest'):
             self.pathtoopf = create_oebbook(self.log, self.pathtoopf, plumber.opts,
                     plumber.input_plugin)
+        if hasattr(self.pathtoopf, 'manifest'):
+            self.pathtoopf = write_oebbook(self.pathtoopf, self.base)
+
 
         self.opf = OPF(self.pathtoopf, os.path.dirname(self.pathtoopf))
         self.language = self.opf.language