diff --git a/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp b/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp
index ecff3755b3..ed24fb7311 100644
--- a/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp
+++ b/source/adios2/engine/sst/SstReader.cpp
@@ -428,6 +428,7 @@ void SstReader::Init()
             size_t *Start = NULL;                                              \
             size_t *Count = NULL;                                              \
             size_t DimCount = 0;                                               \
+            int NeedSync;                                                      \
                                                                                \
             if (variable.m_SelectionType ==                                    \
                 adios2::SelectionType::BoundingBox)                            \
@@ -435,20 +436,23 @@ void SstReader::Init()
                 DimCount = variable.m_Shape.size();                            \
                 Start = variable.m_Start.data();                               \
                 Count = variable.m_Count.data();                               \
-                SstFFSGetDeferred(m_Input, (void *)&variable,                  \
-                                  variable.m_Name.c_str(), DimCount, Start,    \
-                                  Count, data);                                \
+                NeedSync = SstFFSGetDeferred(m_Input, (void *)&variable,       \
+                                             variable.m_Name.c_str(),          \
+                                             DimCount, Start, Count, data);    \
             }                                                                  \
             else if (variable.m_SelectionType ==                               \
                      adios2::SelectionType::WriteBlock)                        \
             {                                                                  \
                 DimCount = variable.m_Count.size();                            \
                 Count = variable.m_Count.data();                               \
-                SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(m_Input, (void *)&variable,             \
-                                       variable.m_Name.c_str(), DimCount,      \
-                                       variable.m_BlockID, Count, data);       \
+                NeedSync = SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(                             \
+                    m_Input, (void *)&variable, variable.m_Name.c_str(),       \
+                    DimCount, variable.m_BlockID, Count, data);                \
+            }                                                                  \
+            if (NeedSync)                                                      \
+            {                                                                  \
+                SstFFSPerformGets(m_Input);                                    \
             }                                                                  \
-            SstFFSPerformGets(m_Input);                                        \
         }                                                                      \
         if (m_WriterMarshalMethod == SstMarshalBP)                             \
         {                                                                      \
@@ -456,7 +460,12 @@ void SstReader::Init()
             /*  it's a bad idea in an SST-like environment.  But do */         \
             /*  whatever you do forDoGetDeferred() and then PerformGets() */   \
             DoGetDeferred(variable, data);                                     \
-            PerformGets();                                                     \
+            if (!variable.m_SingleValue)                                       \
+            {                                                                  \
+                /* Don't need to do gets if this was a SingleValue (in         \
+                 * metadata) */                                                \
+                PerformGets();                                                 \
+            }                                                                  \
         }                                                                      \
     }                                                                          \
                                                                                \
diff --git a/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/cp/ffs_marshal.c b/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/cp/ffs_marshal.c
index 312777d65c..389ed31c64 100644
--- a/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/cp/ffs_marshal.c
+++ b/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/cp/ffs_marshal.c
@@ -760,10 +760,9 @@ void NO_SANITIZE_THREAD SstReaderInitFFSCallback(
     Stream->SetupUpcallReader = Reader;
 }
 
-extern void SstFFSGetDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
-                              const char *Name, size_t DimCount,
-                              const size_t *Start, const size_t *Count,
-                              void *Data)
+extern int SstFFSGetDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable, const char *Name,
+                             size_t DimCount, const size_t *Start,
+                             const size_t *Count, void *Data)
 {
     struct FFSReaderMarshalBase *Info = Stream->ReaderMarshalData;
     int GetFromWriter = 0;
@@ -778,6 +777,7 @@ extern void SstFFSGetDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
             Var->PerWriterMetaFieldDesc[GetFromWriter]->field_offset;
         memcpy(Data, IncomingDataBase,
                Var->PerWriterMetaFieldDesc[GetFromWriter]->field_size);
+        return 0; // No Sync needed
     }
     else
     {
@@ -793,13 +793,14 @@ extern void SstFFSGetDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
         Req->Data = Data;
         Req->Next = Info->PendingVarRequests;
         Info->PendingVarRequests = Req;
+        return 1; // Later Sync needed
     }
 }
 
-extern void SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
-                                   const char *Name, size_t DimCount,
-                                   const int BlockID, const size_t *Count,
-                                   void *Data)
+extern int SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
+                                  const char *Name, size_t DimCount,
+                                  const int BlockID, const size_t *Count,
+                                  void *Data)
 {
     struct FFSReaderMarshalBase *Info = Stream->ReaderMarshalData;
     int GetFromWriter = 0;
@@ -814,6 +815,7 @@ extern void SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
             Var->PerWriterMetaFieldDesc[GetFromWriter]->field_offset;
         memcpy(Data, IncomingDataBase,
                Var->PerWriterMetaFieldDesc[GetFromWriter]->field_size);
+        return 0; // No Sync needed
     }
     else
     {
@@ -829,6 +831,7 @@ extern void SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
         Req->Data = Data;
         Req->Next = Info->PendingVarRequests;
         Info->PendingVarRequests = Req;
+        return 1; // Later Sync needed
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/sst.h b/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/sst.h
index 3b5a328959..8ae6f77765 100644
--- a/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/sst.h
+++ b/source/adios2/toolkit/sst/sst.h
@@ -165,14 +165,15 @@ extern void SstFFSMarshal(SstStream Stream, void *Variable, const char *Name,
 extern void SstFFSMarshalAttribute(SstStream Stream, const char *Name,
                                    const char *Type, size_t ElemSize,
                                    size_t ElemCount, const void *data);
-extern void SstFFSGetDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
-                              const char *Name, size_t DimCount,
-                              const size_t *Start, const size_t *Count,
-                              void *Data);
-extern void SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
-                                   const char *Name, size_t DimCount,
-                                   const int BlockID, const size_t *Count,
-                                   void *Data);
+/* GetDeferred calls return true if need later sync */
+extern int SstFFSGetDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable, const char *Name,
+                             size_t DimCount, const size_t *Start,
+                             const size_t *Count, void *Data);
+/* GetDeferred calls return true if need later sync */
+extern int SstFFSGetLocalDeferred(SstStream Stream, void *Variable,
+                                  const char *Name, size_t DimCount,
+                                  const int BlockID, const size_t *Count,
+                                  void *Data);
 
 extern SstStatusValue SstFFSPerformGets(SstStream Stream);