diff --git a/Configuration.cpp b/Configuration.cpp
index 57978f907..3cc900e57 100644
--- a/Configuration.cpp
+++ b/Configuration.cpp
@@ -1004,13 +1004,11 @@ Configuration::impl::impl (Configuration * self, QNetworkAccessManager * network
   // this must be done after the default paths above are set
   read_settings ();
 
-  // conditionally load LotW users data
-  ui_->LotW_CSV_fetch_push_button->setEnabled (false);
+  // set up LoTW users CSV file fetching
   connect (&lotw_users_, &LotWUsers::load_finished, [this] () {
       ui_->LotW_CSV_fetch_push_button->setEnabled (true);
     });
   lotw_users_.set_local_file_path (writeable_data_dir_.absoluteFilePath ("lotw-user-activity.csv"));
-  lotw_users_.load (ui_->LotW_CSV_URL_line_edit->text ());
 
   //
   // validation
diff --git a/LotWUsers.cpp b/LotWUsers.cpp
index 3876cd7bf..877e70549 100644
--- a/LotWUsers.cpp
+++ b/LotWUsers.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "LotWUsers.hpp"
 
 #include <future>
+#include <chrono>
 
 #include <QHash>
 #include <QString>
@@ -265,7 +266,9 @@ void LotWUsers::set_age_constraint (qint64 uploaded_since_days)
 
 bool LotWUsers::user (QString const& call) const
 {
-  if (m_->future_load_.valid ())
+  // check if a pending asynchronous load is ready
+  if (m_->future_load_.valid ()
+      && std::future_status::ready == m_->future_load_.wait_for (std::chrono::seconds {0}))
     {
       try
         {
@@ -278,10 +281,13 @@ bool LotWUsers::user (QString const& call) const
         }
       Q_EMIT load_finished ();
     }
-  auto p = m_->last_uploaded_.constFind (call);
-  if (p != m_->last_uploaded_.end ())
+  if (m_->last_uploaded_.size ())
     {
-      return p.value ().daysTo (QDate::currentDate ()) <= m_->age_constraint_;
+      auto p = m_->last_uploaded_.constFind (call);
+      if (p != m_->last_uploaded_.end ())
+        {
+          return p.value ().daysTo (QDate::currentDate ()) <= m_->age_constraint_;
+        }
     }
   return false;
 }
diff --git a/widgets/displaytext.cpp b/widgets/displaytext.cpp
index 73df8af63..56e7931be 100644
--- a/widgets/displaytext.cpp
+++ b/widgets/displaytext.cpp
@@ -400,7 +400,11 @@ void DisplayText::displayDecodedText(DecodedText const& decodedText, QString con
         }
       else
         {
-          highlight_types types {Highlight::CQ, Highlight::LotW};
+          highlight_types types {Highlight::CQ};
+          if (m_config && m_config->lotw_users ().user (decodedText.CQersCall()))
+            {
+              types.push_back (Highlight::LotW);
+            }
           set_colours (m_config, &bg, &fg, types);
         }
     }