diff --git a/lua/nivvie/init.lua b/lua/nivvie/init.lua
index a9c823e..128baeb 100644
--- a/lua/nivvie/init.lua
+++ b/lua/nivvie/init.lua
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ function nivvie.setup(cfg)
   require('nivvie.config').set(cfg)
 end
 
+nivvie.autorestored = false
 nivvie.stdin = false
 
 function nivvie.get_uri()
@@ -88,7 +89,23 @@ function nivvie.autorestore()
     return
   end
 
+  nivvie.autorestored = true
+
   nivvie.restore()
 end
 
+-- only save if nvim was not started with file arguments/stdin
+function nivvie.autosave()
+  if not nivvie.autorestored then
+    return
+  end
+
+  if not require('nivvie.config').get().autosave then
+    return
+  end
+
+  require('nivvie').clean()
+  require('nivvie').save()
+end
+
 return nivvie
diff --git a/plugin/nivvie.lua b/plugin/nivvie.lua
index 8fc29d6..aaf0850 100644
--- a/plugin/nivvie.lua
+++ b/plugin/nivvie.lua
@@ -9,11 +9,7 @@ local group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup('nivvie', { clear = true })
 vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd({ 'VimLeavePre' }, {
   group = group,
   callback = function()
-    if not require('nivvie.config').get().autosave then
-      return
-    end
-    require('nivvie').clean()
-    require('nivvie').save()
+    require('nivvie').autosave()
   end,
 })