diff --git a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
index 05f6263b7..e514cca12 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
@@ -623,11 +623,6 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 node->setNodeMask(0x1);
             }
 
-            if (skipMeshes && isAnimated) // make sure the empty node is not optimized away so the physicssystem can find it.
-            {
-                node->setDataVariance(osg::Object::DYNAMIC);
-            }
-
             // We can skip creating meshes for hidden nodes if they don't have a VisController that
             // might make them visible later
             if (nifNode->flags & Nif::NiNode::Flag_Hidden)
@@ -643,6 +638,11 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 node->setNodeMask(0x1);
             }
 
+            if (skipMeshes && isAnimated) // make sure the empty node is not optimized away so the physicssystem can find it.
+            {
+                node->setDataVariance(osg::Object::DYNAMIC);
+            }
+
             osg::ref_ptr<SceneUtil::CompositeStateSetUpdater> composite = new SceneUtil::CompositeStateSetUpdater;
 
             applyNodeProperties(nifNode, node, composite, imageManager, boundTextures, animflags);