diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4f73bd0d3b..d786e8d71e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # Welcome to ethereumj
 
-[![Slack Status](http://harmony-slack-ether-camp.herokuapp.com/badge.svg)](http://ether.camp) 
 [![Gitter](https://badges.gitter.im/Join%20Chat.svg)](https://gitter.im/ethereum/ethereumj?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/ethereum/ethereumj.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/ethereum/ethereumj)
 [![Coverage Status](https://coveralls.io/repos/ethereum/ethereumj/badge.png?branch=master)](https://coveralls.io/r/ethereum/ethereumj?branch=master)
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@ We keep EthereumJ as thin as possible. For [JSON-RPC](https://github.com/ethereu
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.ethereum</groupId>
      <artifactId>ethereumj-core</artifactId>
-     <version>1.6.3-RELEASE</version>
+     <version>1.8.0-RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
 ```
 
@@ -31,7 +30,7 @@ We keep EthereumJ as thin as possible. For [JSON-RPC](https://github.com/ethereu
        jcenter()
        maven { url "https://dl.bintray.com/ethereum/maven/" }
    }
-   compile "org.ethereum:ethereumj-core:1.6.+"
+   compile "org.ethereum:ethereumj-core:1.8.+"
 ```
 
 As a starting point for your own project take a look at https://github.com/ether-camp/ethereumj.starter
diff --git a/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/FastSyncManager.java b/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/FastSyncManager.java
index e2224a6549..c26bd53847 100644
--- a/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/FastSyncManager.java
+++ b/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/FastSyncManager.java
@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ public void main() {
 
                         syncSecure();
 
-                        listener.onSyncDone(EthereumListener.SyncState.SECURE);
+                        fireSyncDone(SECURE);
                     case COMPLETE:
                         if (origSyncStage == COMPLETE) {
                             logger.info("FastSync: SECURE sync was completed prior to this run, proceeding with next stage...");
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ public void main() {
 
                         syncBlocksReceipts();
 
-                        listener.onSyncDone(EthereumListener.SyncState.COMPLETE);
+                        fireSyncDone(COMPLETE);
                 }
                 logger.info("FastSync: Full sync done.");
             } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
@@ -751,6 +751,14 @@ public void main() {
         }
     }
 
+    private void fireSyncDone(EthereumListener.SyncState state) {
+        // prevent early state notification when sync is not yet done
+        syncManager.setSyncDoneType(state);
+        if (syncManager.isSyncDone()) {
+            listener.onSyncDone(state);
+        }
+    }
+
     public boolean isFastSyncInProgress() {
         return fastSyncInProgress;
     }
diff --git a/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/SyncManager.java b/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/SyncManager.java
index b3afcc3f31..0366ac6b7d 100644
--- a/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/SyncManager.java
+++ b/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/sync/SyncManager.java
@@ -190,6 +190,10 @@ void initRegularSync(EthereumListener.SyncState syncDoneType) {
         }
     }
 
+    void setSyncDoneType(EthereumListener.SyncState syncDoneType) {
+        this.syncDoneType = syncDoneType;
+    }
+
     public SyncStatus getSyncStatus() {
         if (config.isFastSyncEnabled()) {
             SyncStatus syncStatus = fastSyncManager.getSyncState();