diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index a7d0234..fe10c2e 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -78,11 +78,6 @@
                       </label>
                     </div>
                   </div>
-                  <div class="form-group">
-                    <label class="control-label" for="port">Lines</label>
-                    <input type="text" class="form-control monospace" id="lines" ng-model="lines" placeholder="40">
-                    <p class="help-block">Enter number of lines to sync from WeeChat on connect</p>
-                  </div>
                   <button class="btn btn-lg btn-primary" ng-click="connect()">Connect <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right"></i></button>
                 </form>
               </div>
@@ -250,6 +245,16 @@ $ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout relay.pem -x509 -days 365 -out rel
                       </div>
                     </form>
                   </li>
+                  <li class="">
+                    <form class="form-inline" role="form">
+                      <div class="checkbox">
+                        <label>
+                          &nbsp;&nbsp;lines fetched initially
+                          <input type="text" ng-model="lines" class="input-sm col-md-3">
+                        </label>
+                      </div>
+                    </form>
+                  </li>
                 </ul>
               </div>
               <a ng-click="disconnect()" title="Disconnect from WeeChat">
diff --git a/js/glowingbear.js b/js/glowingbear.js
index 1a614db..d63dde5 100644
--- a/js/glowingbear.js
+++ b/js/glowingbear.js
@@ -286,16 +286,6 @@ function($rootScope,
             });
 
             // Send all the other commands required for initialization
-            ngWebsockets.send(
-                weeChat.Protocol.formatHdata({
-                    path: "buffer:gui_buffers(*)/own_lines/last_line(-"+storage.get('lines')+")/data",
-                    keys: []
-                })
-            ).then(function(lineinfo) {
-                handlers.handleLineInfo(lineinfo);
-                $rootScope.scrollWithBuffer(true);
-            });
-
             ngWebsockets.send(
                 weeChat.Protocol.formatHdata({
                     path: "hotlist:gui_hotlist(*)",
@@ -384,11 +374,9 @@ function($rootScope,
         }));
     };
 
-    var getMoreLines = function(numLines) {
+    var fetchMoreLines = function(numLines) {
         var buffer = models.getActiveBuffer();
-        if (numLines === undefined) {
-            var numLines = Math.max(40, buffer.requestedLines * 2);
-        }
+        numLines = Math.max(numLines, buffer.requestedLines * 2);
 
         $rootScope.loadingLines = true;
         ngWebsockets.send(
@@ -415,7 +403,7 @@ function($rootScope,
         disconnect: disconnect,
         sendMessage: sendMessage,
         sendCoreCommand: sendCoreCommand,
-        getMoreLines: getMoreLines
+        fetchMoreLines: fetchMoreLines
     };
 }]);
 
@@ -476,6 +464,11 @@ weechat.controller('WeechatCtrl', ['$rootScope', '$scope', '$store', '$timeout',
         $rootScope.scrollWithBuffer(true);
 
         var ab = models.getActiveBuffer();
+        if (ab.requestedLines < $scope.lines) {
+            // buffer has not been loaded
+            // some messages may be present if they arrived after we connected
+            $scope.fetchMoreLines($scope.lines);
+        }
         $rootScope.pageTitle = ab.shortName + ' | ' + ab.title;
 
         // If user wants to sync hotlist with weechat
@@ -591,8 +584,8 @@ weechat.controller('WeechatCtrl', ['$rootScope', '$scope', '$store', '$timeout',
     };
 
     $rootScope.loadingLines = false;
-    $scope.fetchMoreLines = function(numLines) {
-        connection.getMoreLines(numLines);
+    $scope.fetchMoreLines = function() {
+        connection.fetchMoreLines($scope.lines);
     }
 
     $rootScope.scrollWithBuffer = function(nonIncremental) {