diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb.go b/storage/metric/leveldb.go
index 511748e25..7de237e17 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/metric/leveldb.go
@@ -488,26 +488,28 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) refreshHighWatermarks(groups map[model.Finger
 	batch := leveldb.NewBatch()
 	defer batch.Close()
 
-	mutationCount := 0
+	value := &dto.MetricHighWatermark{}
 	for fingerprint, samples := range groups {
-		value := &dto.MetricHighWatermark{}
-		newestSampleTimestamp := samples[len(samples)-1].Timestamp
+		value.Reset()
 		present, err := l.MetricHighWatermarks.Get(fingerprint.ToDTO(), value)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+
+		newestSampleTimestamp := samples[len(samples)-1].Timestamp
+
 		if !present {
+			value.Timestamp = proto.Int64(newestSampleTimestamp.Unix())
+			batch.Put(fingerprint.ToDTO(), value)
+
 			continue
 		}
 
 		// BUG(matt): Repace this with watermark management.
-		if newestSampleTimestamp.Before(time.Unix(*value.Timestamp, 0)) {
-			continue
+		if !newestSampleTimestamp.Before(time.Unix(value.GetTimestamp(), 0)) {
+			value.Timestamp = proto.Int64(newestSampleTimestamp.Unix())
+			batch.Put(fingerprint.ToDTO(), value)
 		}
-
-		value.Timestamp = proto.Int64(newestSampleTimestamp.Unix())
-		batch.Put(fingerprint.ToDTO(), value)
-		mutationCount++
 	}
 
 	err = l.MetricHighWatermarks.Commit(batch)