diff --git a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
index 15c461bf2b..f89720dd4c 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
@@ -1056,6 +1056,8 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 emitter->setReferenceFrame(osgParticle::ParticleProcessor::RELATIVE_RF);
 
                 // The emitter node may not actually be handled yet, so let's delay attaching the emitter to a later moment.
+                // If the emitter node is placed later than the particle node, it'll have a single frame delay in particle processing.
+                // But that shouldn't be a game-breaking issue.
                 mEmitterQueue.emplace_back(partctrl->emitter->recIndex, emitter);
 
                 osg::ref_ptr<ParticleSystemController> callback(new ParticleSystemController(partctrl));
@@ -1073,7 +1075,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 partsys->update(0.0, nv);
             }
 
-            // affectors must be attached *after* the emitter in the scene graph for correct update order
+            // affectors should be attached *after* the emitter in the scene graph for correct update order
             // attach to same node as the ParticleSystem, we need osgParticle Operators to get the correct
             // localToWorldMatrix for transforming to particle space
             handleParticlePrograms(partctrl->affectors, partctrl->colliders, parentNode, partsys.get(), rf);
diff --git a/components/sceneutil/clone.cpp b/components/sceneutil/clone.cpp
index 04fd5d78db..0423d61171 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/clone.cpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/clone.cpp
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ namespace SceneUtil
     osgParticle::ParticleProcessor* CopyOp::operator() (const osgParticle::ParticleProcessor* processor) const
     {
         osgParticle::ParticleProcessor* cloned = osg::clone(processor, osg::CopyOp::DEEP_COPY_CALLBACKS);
+        for (std::map<const osgParticle::ParticleSystem*, osgParticle::ParticleSystem*>::const_iterator it = mMap3.begin(); it != mMap3.end(); ++it)
+        {
+            if (processor->getParticleSystem() == it->first)
+            {
+                cloned->setParticleSystem(it->second);
+                return cloned;
+            }
+        }
+
         mMap[cloned] = processor->getParticleSystem();
         return cloned;
     }
@@ -93,6 +102,9 @@ namespace SceneUtil
                 updater->addParticleSystem(cloned);
             }
         }
+        // In rare situations a particle processor may be placed after the particle system in the scene graph.
+        mMap3[partsys] = cloned;
+
         return cloned;
     }
 
diff --git a/components/sceneutil/clone.hpp b/components/sceneutil/clone.hpp
index 8a18eeb20b..b0a9d56c3e 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/clone.hpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/clone.hpp
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@ namespace SceneUtil
         virtual osg::Object* operator ()(const osg::Object* node) const;
 
     private:
-        // maps new ParticleProcessor to their old ParticleSystem pointer
+        // maps new pointers to their old pointers
         // a little messy, but I think this should be the most efficient way
         mutable std::map<osgParticle::ParticleProcessor*, const osgParticle::ParticleSystem*> mMap;
         mutable std::map<osgParticle::ParticleSystemUpdater*, const osgParticle::ParticleSystem*> mMap2;
+        mutable std::map<const osgParticle::ParticleSystem*, osgParticle::ParticleSystem*> mMap3;
     };
 
 }