diff --git a/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/main/scala/almond/internals/UpdatableResults.scala b/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/main/scala/almond/internals/UpdatableResults.scala
index 924315313..f59f2da0e 100644
--- a/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/main/scala/almond/internals/UpdatableResults.scala
+++ b/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/main/scala/almond/internals/UpdatableResults.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package almond.internals
 
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
+
 import almond.interpreter.api.DisplayData
 import almond.logger.LoggerContext
 import ammonite.util.Ref
@@ -15,33 +17,55 @@ final class UpdatableResults(
 
   private val log = logCtx(getClass)
 
-  val refs = new mutable.HashMap[String, Ref[(DisplayData, Map[String, String])]]
+  val refs = new ConcurrentHashMap[String, Ref[(DisplayData, Map[String, String])]]
+
+  val addRefsLock = new Object
+
+  val earlyUpdates = new mutable.HashMap[String, (String, Boolean)]
 
   def add(data: DisplayData, variables: Map[String, String]): DisplayData = {
     val ref = Ref((data, variables))
-    refs ++= variables.keysIterator.map { k =>
-      k -> ref
+    addRefsLock.synchronized {
+      val variables0 = variables.map {
+        case (k, v) =>
+          val vOpt = earlyUpdates.remove(k)
+          if (!vOpt.exists(_._2))
+            refs.put(k, ref)
+          k -> vOpt.fold(v)(_._1)
+      }
+      UpdatableResults.substituteVariables(data, variables0)
     }
-    UpdatableResults.substituteVariables(data, variables)
   }
 
-  def update(k: String, v: String, last: Boolean): Unit =
-    Future(
-      refs.get(k) match {
-        case None =>
-          log.warn(s"Updatable variable $k not found")
-          throw new NoSuchElementException(s"Result variable $k")
-        case Some(ref) =>
-          log.info(s"Updating variable $k with $v")
-          val (data0, m0) = ref()
-          val m = m0 + (k -> v)
-          val data = UpdatableResults.substituteVariables(data0, m)
-          ref() = (data, m)
-          updateData(data)
-          if (last)
-            refs -= k
-      }
-    )(ec) // FIXME Log failures
+  def update(k: String, v: String, last: Boolean): Unit = {
+
+    def updateRef(ref: Ref[(DisplayData, Map[String, String])]): Unit = {
+      log.info(s"Updating variable $k with $v")
+      val (data0, m0) = ref()
+      val m = m0 + (k -> v)
+      val data = UpdatableResults.substituteVariables(data0, m)
+      ref() = (data, m)
+      Future(updateData(data))(ec)
+      if (last)
+        refs.remove(k)
+    }
+
+    Option(refs.get(k)) match {
+      case None =>
+        val r = addRefsLock.synchronized {
+          val r = Option(refs.get(k))
+          if (r.isEmpty) {
+            log.warn(s"Updatable variable $k not found")
+            earlyUpdates += k -> (v, last)
+          }
+          r
+        }
+        for (ref <- r)
+          updateRef(ref)
+      case Some(ref) =>
+        updateRef(ref)
+    }
+  }
 
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/test/scala/almond/UpdatableResultsTests.scala b/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/test/scala/almond/UpdatableResultsTests.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fdc548e1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/scala/scala-interpreter/src/test/scala/almond/UpdatableResultsTests.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package almond
+
+import almond.internals.UpdatableResults
+import almond.interpreter.api.DisplayData
+import almond.logger.LoggerContext
+import utest._
+
+import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext
+
+object UpdatableResultsTests extends TestSuite {
+
+  private val ec: ExecutionContext =
+    new ExecutionContext {
+      def execute(runnable: Runnable) = runnable.run()
+      def reportFailure(cause: Throwable) = ()
+    }
+
+  val tests = Tests {
+
+    "early update" - {
+      val updates = new java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue[DisplayData]
+      val r = new UpdatableResults(ec, LoggerContext.nop, updates.add)
+      r.update("<foo>", "value", last = true)
+      val data = r.add(DisplayData.text("Foo <foo>"), Map("<foo>" -> "---"))
+      val expectedData = DisplayData.text("Foo value")
+      assert(data == expectedData)
+      assert(r.earlyUpdates.isEmpty)
+    }
+
+  }
+
+}