diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 95e0f34..a4cd2d3 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1178,8 +1178,10 @@ async fn scan_one(
     // A 304 while nothing is stored means the validator has outlived the data -- a restore
     // from backup, a manual edit, a cleanup that removed entries. Believe the database over
     // the validator: drop it and ask again, or the feed stays empty until the publisher
-    // happens to change something.
-    if matches!(fetched, feed::Fetched::NotModified) && ctx.db.feed_summary(id).await?.entries == 0 {
+    // happens to change something. The same for artwork never looked for: a feed from before
+    // site icons (#73) would otherwise wait for its next post to get one.
+    let stored = ctx.db.feed_summary(id).await?;
+    if matches!(fetched, feed::Fetched::NotModified) && (stored.entries == 0 || stored.image.is_none()) {
         tracing::info!(feed = id, "not modified, but nothing stored; refetching without the validator");
         ctx.db.clear_validators(id).await?;
         fetched = feed::fetch(&ctx.client, feed_cfg, None, None).await?;
@@ -1206,13 +1208,13 @@ async fn scan_one(
     }
 
     let mut parsed = feed::parse(&bytes)?;
-    // ponytail: a site with no icon at all is asked again on every scan that finds the feed
-    // changed; remember the miss in the feeds table if that turns out to cost.
-    if parsed.image.is_none()
-        && let Some(site) = &parsed.site
-        && ctx.db.feed_summary(id).await?.image.is_none()
-    {
-        parsed.image = feed::site_icon(&ctx.client, site).await;
+    // Looked for once. A miss is stored as "", which the page draws as no art, so a site with
+    // no icon is not asked again on every scan, nor the feed refetched in full for it above.
+    if parsed.image.is_none() && stored.image.is_none() {
+        parsed.image = Some(match &parsed.site {
+            Some(site) => feed::site_icon(&ctx.client, site).await.unwrap_or_default(),
+            None => String::new(),
+        });
     }
     ctx.db.record_feed(
         id,