diff --git a/cmd/internal/distributor/distributor.go b/cmd/internal/distributor/distributor.go
index f4a6b3b..5912282 100644
--- a/cmd/internal/distributor/distributor.go
+++ b/cmd/internal/distributor/distributor.go
@@ -214,9 +214,9 @@ func (d *Distributor) Distribute(ctx context.Context, logID, witID string, nextR
 				reportInconsistency(oldBs, nextRaw)
 				return status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "old checkpoint for tree size %d had hash %x but new one has %x", newCP.Size, oldCP.Hash, newCP.Hash)
 			}
-			// Nothing to do; checkpoint is equivalent to the old one so avoid DB writes.
-			counterCheckpointUpdateSuccess.WithLabelValues(witID).Inc()
-			return nil
+			// This used to short-circuit here to avoid writes. However, having the most recently witnessed
+			// timestamp available is beneficial to demonstrate freshness.
+			// If there are too many equivalent writes happening, then consider implementing a throttle here.
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index ec9b99d..50709a6 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ func ParseWitnessesConfig(y []byte) (map[string]note.Verifier, error) {
 	}
 	ws := make(map[string]note.Verifier)
 	for _, w := range witCfg.Witnesses {
-		wSigV, err := f_note.NewVerifierForCosignatureV1(w)
+		// TODO(mhutchinson): Upgrade this to f_note.NewVerifierForCosignatureV1
+		wSigV, err := note.NewVerifier(w)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid witness public key: %v", err)
 		}