diff --git a/source/EngineGpuKernels/GenomeDecoder.cuh b/source/EngineGpuKernels/GenomeDecoder.cuh
index bfed8b0eb..d06394db9 100644
--- a/source/EngineGpuKernels/GenomeDecoder.cuh
+++ b/source/EngineGpuKernels/GenomeDecoder.cuh
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public:
     __inline__ __device__ static void setNextConstructorSeparation(uint8_t* genome, int nodeAddress, bool separation);
     __inline__ __device__ static void setNextConstructorNumBranches(uint8_t* genome, int nodeAddress, int numBranches);
     __inline__ __device__ static bool containsSectionSelfReplication(uint8_t* genome, int genomeSize);
-    __inline__ __device__ static int getNodeAddressForSelfReplication(uint8_t* genome, int genomeSize);  //-1 = no node for self-replication found
+    __inline__ __device__ static int getNodeAddressForSelfReplication(uint8_t* genome, int genomeSize, bool& containsSelfReplicator);
     __inline__ __device__ static void setRandomCellFunctionData(SimulationData& data, uint8_t* genome, int nodeAddress, CellFunction const& cellFunction, bool makeSelfCopy, int subGenomeSize);
     __inline__ __device__ static int getCellFunctionDataSize(
         CellFunction cellFunction,
@@ -740,15 +740,16 @@ __inline__ __device__ bool GenomeDecoder::containsSectionSelfReplication(uint8_t
     return false;
 }
 
-__inline__ __device__ int GenomeDecoder::getNodeAddressForSelfReplication(uint8_t* genome, int genomeSize)
+__inline__ __device__ int GenomeDecoder::getNodeAddressForSelfReplication(uint8_t* genome, int genomeSize, bool& containsSelfReplicator)
 {
     int nodeAddress = 0;
     for (; nodeAddress < genomeSize;) {
         if (isNextCellSelfReplication(genome, nodeAddress)) {
+            containsSelfReplicator = true;
             return nodeAddress;
         }
         nodeAddress += Const::CellBasicBytes + getNextCellFunctionDataSize(genome, genomeSize, nodeAddress);
     }
-
-    return -1;
+    containsSelfReplicator = false;
+    return 0;
 }
diff --git a/source/EngineGpuKernels/MutationProcessor.cuh b/source/EngineGpuKernels/MutationProcessor.cuh
index 691513b46..0d8cfdc77 100644
--- a/source/EngineGpuKernels/MutationProcessor.cuh
+++ b/source/EngineGpuKernels/MutationProcessor.cuh
@@ -739,10 +739,11 @@ __inline__ __device__ void MutationProcessor::duplicateMutation(SimulationData&
     }
     auto sizeDelta = endSourceIndex - startSourceIndex;
     auto nodeAddressForSelfReplication = -1;
+    auto duplicatedSegmentContainsSelfReplicator = false;
     if (!cudaSimulationParameters.cellFunctionConstructorMutationSelfReplication) {
-        nodeAddressForSelfReplication = GenomeDecoder::getNodeAddressForSelfReplication(genome + startSourceIndex, sizeDelta);
-        if (nodeAddressForSelfReplication != -1 ) {
-            nodeAddressForSelfReplication += startSourceIndex;
+        nodeAddressForSelfReplication =
+            GenomeDecoder::getNodeAddressForSelfReplication(genome + startSourceIndex, sizeDelta, duplicatedSegmentContainsSelfReplicator) + startSourceIndex;
+        if (duplicatedSegmentContainsSelfReplicator) {
             sizeDelta += 2 + Const::GenomeHeaderSize;  //additional size for empty subgenome
         }
     }
@@ -802,7 +803,7 @@ __inline__ __device__ void MutationProcessor::duplicateMutation(SimulationData&
     }
 
     //copy duplicated part
-    if (nodeAddressForSelfReplication == -1) {
+    if (!duplicatedSegmentContainsSelfReplicator) {
         for (int i = 0; i < sizeDelta; ++i) {
             targetGenome[startTargetIndex + i] = genome[startSourceIndex + i];
         }