diff --git a/exec/newslink.js b/exec/newslink.js
index 9c76e2bd68f884f23ef274139519478fb0bc0a95..4b949687abc5c67f972e16c56f0af9f7eca63cee 100644
--- a/exec/newslink.js
+++ b/exec/newslink.js
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ for(i in area) {
 	/* Read Pointer File */
 	/*********************/
 	export_ptr = 0;
-	import_ptr = 0;
+	import_ptr = ~0;	// Set to highest possible message number
 	ptr_fname = msgbase.file + ".snl";
 	ptr_file = new File(ptr_fname);
 	if(ptr_file.open("rb")) {