diff --git a/ios/RCTVideo.m b/ios/RCTVideo.m
index 53d2047d..25590978 100644
--- a/ios/RCTVideo.m
+++ b/ios/RCTVideo.m
@@ -124,6 +124,16 @@ static NSString *const timedMetadata = @"timedMetadata";
     return (kCMTimeRangeZero);
 }
 
+- (void)addPlayerTimeObserver
+{
+    const Float64 progressUpdateIntervalMS = _progressUpdateInterval / 1000;
+    // @see endScrubbing in AVPlayerDemoPlaybackViewController.m of https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/samplecode/AVPlayerDemo/Introduction/Intro.html
+    __weak RCTVideo *weakSelf = self;
+    _timeObserver = [_player addPeriodicTimeObserverForInterval:CMTimeMakeWithSeconds(progressUpdateIntervalMS, NSEC_PER_SEC)
+                                                          queue:NULL
+                                                     usingBlock:^(CMTime time) { [weakSelf sendProgressUpdate]; }
+                     ];
+}
 
 /* Cancels the previously registered time observer. */
 -(void)removePlayerTimeObserver
@@ -289,13 +299,7 @@ static NSString *const timedMetadata = @"timedMetadata";
   [_player addObserver:self forKeyPath:playbackRate options:0 context:nil];
   _playbackRateObserverRegistered = YES;
 
-  const Float64 progressUpdateIntervalMS = _progressUpdateInterval / 1000;
-  // @see endScrubbing in AVPlayerDemoPlaybackViewController.m of https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/samplecode/AVPlayerDemo/Introduction/Intro.html
-  __weak RCTVideo *weakSelf = self;
-  _timeObserver = [_player addPeriodicTimeObserverForInterval:CMTimeMakeWithSeconds(progressUpdateIntervalMS, NSEC_PER_SEC)
-                                                        queue:NULL
-                                                   usingBlock:^(CMTime time) { [weakSelf sendProgressUpdate]; }
-                   ];
+  [self addPlayerTimeObserver];
 
   dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, (int64_t)(0 * NSEC_PER_SEC)), dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
     //Perform on next run loop, otherwise onVideoLoadStart is nil
@@ -488,6 +492,8 @@ static NSString *const timedMetadata = @"timedMetadata";
     AVPlayerItem *item = [notification object];
     [item seekToTime:kCMTimeZero];
     [self applyModifiers];
+  } else {
+    [self removePlayerTimeObserver];
   }
 }
 
@@ -567,6 +573,9 @@ static NSString *const timedMetadata = @"timedMetadata";
     if (CMTimeCompare(current, cmSeekTime) != 0) {
       if (!wasPaused) [_player pause];
       [_player seekToTime:cmSeekTime toleranceBefore:tolerance toleranceAfter:tolerance completionHandler:^(BOOL finished) {
+        if (!_timeObserver) {
+          [self addPlayerTimeObserver];
+        }
         if (!wasPaused) [_player play];
         if(self.onVideoSeek) {
             self.onVideoSeek(@{@"currentTime": [NSNumber numberWithFloat:CMTimeGetSeconds(item.currentTime)],