diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/player/Player.java b/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/player/Player.java
index e1bc2f061..13dd1d938 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/player/Player.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/player/Player.java
@@ -748,11 +748,15 @@ public final class Player implements PlaybackListener, Listener {
     //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////*/
     //region Thumbnail loading
 
-    private void initThumbnail(final String url) {
+    private void loadCurrentThumbnail(final String url) {
         if (DEBUG) {
-            Log.d(TAG, "Thumbnail - initThumbnail() called with url = ["
+            Log.d(TAG, "Thumbnail - loadCurrentThumbnail() called with url = ["
                     + (url == null ? "null" : url) + "]");
         }
+
+        // Unset currentThumbnail, since it is now outdated. This ensures it is not used in media
+        // session metadata while the new thumbnail is being loaded by Picasso.
+        currentThumbnail = null;
         if (isNullOrEmpty(url)) {
             return;
         }
@@ -762,8 +766,8 @@ public final class Player implements PlaybackListener, Listener {
             @Override
             public void onBitmapLoaded(final Bitmap bitmap, final Picasso.LoadedFrom from) {
                 if (DEBUG) {
-                    Log.d(TAG, "Thumbnail - onLoadingComplete() called with: url = [" + url
-                            + "], " + "loadedImage = [" + bitmap + " -> " + bitmap.getWidth() + "x"
+                    Log.d(TAG, "Thumbnail - onBitmapLoaded() called with: url = [" + url
+                            + "], " + "bitmap = [" + bitmap + " -> " + bitmap.getWidth() + "x"
                             + bitmap.getHeight() + "], from = [" + from + "]");
                 }
 
@@ -1727,7 +1731,7 @@ public final class Player implements PlaybackListener, Listener {
 
         maybeAutoQueueNextStream(info);
 
-        initThumbnail(info.getThumbnailUrl());
+        loadCurrentThumbnail(info.getThumbnailUrl());
         registerStreamViewed();
 
         notifyMetadataUpdateToListeners();
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/util/PicassoHelper.java b/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/util/PicassoHelper.java
index fc7600d4b..5739b930b 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/util/PicassoHelper.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/util/PicassoHelper.java
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 package org.schabi.newpipe.util;
 
+import static org.schabi.newpipe.MainActivity.DEBUG;
 import static org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.utils.Utils.isBlank;
 
 import android.annotation.SuppressLint;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.graphics.Bitmap;
+import android.util.Log;
 
 import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
 
@@ -24,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import okhttp3.OkHttpClient;
 
 public final class PicassoHelper {
+    private static final String TAG = PicassoHelper.class.getSimpleName();
     public static final String PLAYER_THUMBNAIL_TAG = "PICASSO_PLAYER_THUMBNAIL_TAG";
     private static final String PLAYER_THUMBNAIL_TRANSFORMATION_KEY =
             "PICASSO_PLAYER_THUMBNAIL_TRANSFORMATION_KEY";
@@ -129,6 +132,10 @@ public final class PicassoHelper {
                 .transform(new Transformation() {
                     @Override
                     public Bitmap transform(final Bitmap source) {
+                        if (DEBUG) {
+                            Log.d(TAG, "Thumbnail - transform() called");
+                        }
+
                         final float notificationThumbnailWidth = Math.min(
                                 context.getResources()
                                         .getDimension(R.dimen.player_notification_thumbnail_width),