diff --git a/store/store.go b/store/store.go
index 73e0afcf..83d98494 100644
--- a/store/store.go
+++ b/store/store.go
@@ -201,6 +201,9 @@ func (s *Store[H]) Head(ctx context.Context, _ ...header.HeadOption[H]) (H, erro
 		var zero H
 		return zero, err
 	}
+
+	s.writeHead.CompareAndSwap(nil, &head)
+
 	return head, nil
 }
 
@@ -326,19 +329,10 @@ func (s *Store[H]) Append(ctx context.Context, headers ...H) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	var err error
 	// take current write head to verify headers against
-	var head H
-	if headPtr := s.writeHead.Load(); headPtr == nil {
-		head, err = s.Head(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		// store header from the disk.
-		gotHead := head
-		s.writeHead.Store(&gotHead)
-	} else {
-		head = *headPtr
+	head, err := s.Head(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	slices.SortFunc(headers, func(a, b H) int {
@@ -369,13 +363,6 @@ func (s *Store[H]) Append(ctx context.Context, headers ...H) error {
 		}
 		verified = append(verified, h)
 		head = h
-		s.addKnownHeader(head)
-	}
-
-	onWrite := func() {
-		newHead := s.tryAdvanceHead()
-		log.Infow("new head", "height", newHead.Height(), "hash", newHead.Hash())
-		s.metrics.newHead(newHead.Height())
 	}
 
 	// queue headers to be written on disk
@@ -383,15 +370,14 @@ func (s *Store[H]) Append(ctx context.Context, headers ...H) error {
 	case s.writes <- verified:
 		// we return an error here after writing,
 		// as there might be an invalid header in between of a given range
-		onWrite()
 		return err
 	default:
 		s.metrics.writesQueueBlocked(ctx)
 	}
+
 	// if the writes queue is full, we block until it is not
 	select {
 	case s.writes <- verified:
-		onWrite()
 		return err
 	case <-s.writesDn:
 		return errStoppedStore
@@ -430,6 +416,9 @@ func (s *Store[H]) flushLoop() {
 			s.metrics.flush(ctx, time.Since(startTime), s.pending.Len(), true)
 			continue
 		}
+
+		s.tryAdvanceHead(toFlush...)
+
 		s.metrics.flush(ctx, time.Since(startTime), s.pending.Len(), false)
 		// reset pending
 		s.pending.Reset()
@@ -518,18 +507,21 @@ func (s *Store[H]) get(ctx context.Context, hash header.Hash) ([]byte, error) {
 	return data, nil
 }
 
-func (s *Store[H]) addKnownHeader(h H) {
-	s.knownHeadersLk.Lock()
-	s.knownHeaders[h.Height()] = h
-	s.knownHeadersLk.Unlock()
-}
-
 // try advance heighest header if we saw a higher continuous before.
-func (s *Store[H]) tryAdvanceHead() H {
+func (s *Store[H]) tryAdvanceHead(headers ...H) {
+	headPtr := s.writeHead.Load()
+	if headPtr == nil || len(headers) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+
 	s.knownHeadersLk.Lock()
 	defer s.knownHeadersLk.Unlock()
 
-	head := *s.writeHead.Load()
+	for _, h := range headers {
+		s.knownHeaders[h.Height()] = h
+	}
+
+	head := *headPtr
 	height := head.Height()
 	currHead := head
 
@@ -549,8 +541,9 @@ func (s *Store[H]) tryAdvanceHead() H {
 		// we don't need CAS here because that's the only place
 		// where writeHead is updated, knownHeadersLk ensures 1 goroutine.
 		s.writeHead.Store(&head)
+		log.Infow("new head", "height", head.Height(), "hash", head.Hash())
+		s.metrics.newHead(head.Height())
 	}
-	return head
 }
 
 // indexTo saves mapping between header Height and Hash to the given batch.
diff --git a/store/store_test.go b/store/store_test.go
index fcaefa6e..a0f2512f 100644
--- a/store/store_test.go
+++ b/store/store_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package store
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"math/rand"
 	stdsync "sync"
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ func TestStore(t *testing.T) {
 	suite := headertest.NewTestSuite(t)
 
 	ds := sync.MutexWrap(datastore.NewMapDatastore())
-	store := NewTestStore(t, ctx, ds, suite.Head())
+	store := NewTestStore(t, ctx, ds, suite.Head(), WithWriteBatchSize(5))
 
 	head, err := store.Head(ctx)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -38,9 +39,12 @@ func TestStore(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, h.Hash(), out[i].Hash())
 	}
 
-	head, err = store.Head(ctx)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, out[len(out)-1].Hash(), head.Hash())
+	// we need to wait for a flush
+	assert.Eventually(t, func() bool {
+		head, err = store.Head(ctx)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		return bytes.Equal(out[len(out)-1].Hash(), head.Hash())
+	}, time.Second, 100*time.Millisecond)
 
 	ok, err := store.Has(ctx, in[5].Hash())
 	require.NoError(t, err)