diff --git a/src/learn/learn.cpp b/src/learn/learn.cpp
index 57dbeb63..cc51b04e 100644
--- a/src/learn/learn.cpp
+++ b/src/learn/learn.cpp
@@ -490,9 +490,6 @@ namespace Learner
 
         Eval::NNUE::verify_any_net_loaded();
 
-        // Start a thread that loads the training data in the background
-        sr.start_file_read_worker();
-
         const PSVector sfen_for_mse =
             validation_set_file_name.empty()
             ? sr.read_for_mse(sfen_for_mse_size)
diff --git a/src/learn/sfen_reader.h b/src/learn/sfen_reader.h
index 1ba9bd3b..78bf4ee8 100644
--- a/src/learn/sfen_reader.h
+++ b/src/learn/sfen_reader.h
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ namespace Learner{
             end_of_files = false;
             shuffle = true;
             stop_flag = false;
+
+            file_worker_thread = std::thread([&] {
+                this->file_read_worker();
+            });
         }
 
         ~SfenReader()
@@ -176,14 +180,6 @@ namespace Learner{
 
         }
 
-        // Start a thread that loads the phase file in the background.
-        void start_file_read_worker()
-        {
-            file_worker_thread = std::thread([&] {
-                this->file_read_worker();
-                });
-        }
-
         void file_read_worker()
         {
             std::string currentFilename;