diff -ruN thunar.orig/thunar-transfer-job.c thunar/thunar-transfer-job.c
--- thunar.orig/thunar-transfer-job.c	2015-03-08 00:00:00.000000000 +0100
+++ thunar/thunar-transfer-job.c	2015-03-08 00:00:00.000000000 +0100
@@ -686,10 +686,6 @@
 
   _thunar_return_val_if_fail (THUNAR_IS_TRANSFER_JOB (transfer_job), FALSE);
 
-  preferences = thunar_preferences_get ();
-  g_object_get (preferences, "misc-file-size-binary", &file_size_binary, NULL);
-  g_object_unref (preferences);
-
   /* no target file list */
   if (transfer_job->target_file_list == NULL)
     return TRUE;
@@ -698,6 +694,10 @@
   if (transfer_job->total_size == 0)
     return TRUE;
 
+  preferences = thunar_preferences_get ();
+  g_object_get (preferences, "misc-file-size-binary", &file_size_binary, NULL);
+  g_object_unref (preferences);
+
   /* for all actions in thunar use the same target directory so
    * although not all files are checked, this should work nicely */
   dest = g_file_get_parent (G_FILE (transfer_job->target_file_list->data));