diff --git a/pinry/core/api.py b/pinry/core/api.py
index c516538..56a4b21 100644
--- a/pinry/core/api.py
+++ b/pinry/core/api.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class UserResource(ModelResource):
 
 def filter_generator_for(size):
     def wrapped_func(bundle, **kwargs):
-        return Thumbnail.objects.get_or_create_at_size(bundle.obj.pk, size, **kwargs)
+        return bundle.obj.get_by_size(size)
     return wrapped_func
 
 
diff --git a/pinry/core/models.py b/pinry/core/models.py
index 9b6f85f..68d39cc 100644
--- a/pinry/core/models.py
+++ b/pinry/core/models.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import requests
 from cStringIO import StringIO
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.files.uploadedfile import InMemoryUploadedFile
-from django.db import models
+from django.db import models, transaction
 
-from django_images.models import Image as BaseImage
+from django_images.models import Image as BaseImage, Thumbnail
 from taggit.managers import TaggableManager
 
 from ..users.models import User
@@ -19,7 +20,13 @@ class ImageManager(models.Manager):
         buf.write(response.content)
         obj = InMemoryUploadedFile(buf, 'image', file_name,
                                    None, buf.tell(), None)
-        return Image.objects.create(image=obj)
+        # create the image and its thumbnails in one transaction, removing
+        # a chance of getting Database into a inconsistent state when we
+        # try to create thumbnails one by one later
+        image = self.create(image=obj)
+        for size in settings.IMAGE_SIZES.keys():
+            Thumbnail.objects.get_or_create_at_size(image.pk, size)
+        return image
 
 
 class Image(BaseImage):
diff --git a/pinry/core/tests/helpers.py b/pinry/core/tests/helpers.py
index ce4e6fd..67435ef 100644
--- a/pinry/core/tests/helpers.py
+++ b/pinry/core/tests/helpers.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from django.contrib.auth.models import Permission
 from django.core.files.images import ImageFile
 from django.db.models.query import QuerySet
 from django.test import TestCase
+from django_images.models import Thumbnail
 
 import factory
 from taggit.models import Tag
@@ -33,8 +34,15 @@ class TagFactory(factory.Factory):
 
 
 class ImageFactory(factory.Factory):
+    FACTORY_FOR = Image
+
     image = factory.LazyAttribute(lambda a: ImageFile(open(TEST_IMAGE_PATH, 'rb')))
 
+    @factory.post_generation()
+    def create_thumbnails(self, create, extracted, **kwargs):
+        for size in settings.IMAGE_SIZES.keys():
+            Thumbnail.objects.get_or_create_at_size(self.pk, size)
+
 
 class PinFactory(factory.Factory):
     submitter = factory.SubFactory(UserFactory)
diff --git a/pinry/core/views.py b/pinry/core/views.py
index 5b57c4b..8192705 100644
--- a/pinry/core/views.py
+++ b/pinry/core/views.py
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.views.generic import CreateView
 from django_images.models import Image
 
 from braces.views import JSONResponseMixin, LoginRequiredMixin
+from django_images.models import Thumbnail
 
 from .forms import ImageForm
 
@@ -20,6 +22,8 @@ class CreateImage(JSONResponseMixin, LoginRequiredMixin, CreateView):
 
     def form_valid(self, form):
         image = form.save()
+        for size in settings.IMAGE_SIZES.keys():
+            Thumbnail.objects.get_or_create_at_size(image.pk, size)
         return self.render_json_response({
             'success': {
                 'id': image.id