diff --git a/cmd/consumer/main.go b/cmd/consumer/main.go
index 647b472..4fd7a7e 100644
--- a/cmd/consumer/main.go
+++ b/cmd/consumer/main.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func (srp *sampleRecordProcessor) Initialize(shardID string, checkpointer kcl.Ch
 }
 
 func (srp *sampleRecordProcessor) shouldUpdateSequence(pair kcl.SequencePair) bool {
-	return srp.largestPair.IsLessThan(pair)
+	return srp.largestPair.IsNil() || srp.largestPair.IsLessThan(pair)
 }
 
 func (srp *sampleRecordProcessor) ProcessRecords(records []kcl.Record) error {