diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp
index 07f24bc2..ed734aa4 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp
@@ -353,6 +353,9 @@ bool Section::createSectionFile(const int fontId, const float lineCompression, c
     return false;
   }
 
+  // Evict old variants for this spine to keep cache size controlled BEFORE creating the new one
+  evictOldVariants();
+
   if (!Storage.openFileForWrite("SCT", filePath, file)) {
     return false;
   }
@@ -365,9 +368,6 @@ bool Section::createSectionFile(const int fontId, const float lineCompression, c
   std::string contentBase = (lastSlash != std::string::npos) ? localPath.substr(0, lastSlash + 1) : "";
   std::string imageBasePath = getImageBasePath(propertyHash);
 
-  // Evict old variants for this spine to keep cache size controlled
-  evictOldVariants();
-
   CssParser* cssParser = nullptr;
   if (embeddedStyle) {
     cssParser = epub->getCssParser();
@@ -483,13 +483,16 @@ bool Section::createSectionFile(const int fontId, const float lineCompression, c
   serialization::writePod(file, lutOffset);
   serialization::writePod(file, anchorMapOffset);
   serialization::writePod(file, paragraphLutOffset);
-  file.close();
+  file.flush();
+
   if (cssParser) {
     cssParser->clear();
   }
 
   buildTocBoundaries(anchors);
 
+  file.close();
+
   // Cache the LUT in memory and open the file for reading so that
   // subsequent loadPageFromSectionFile() calls can seek directly without re-opening.
   if (!Storage.openFileForRead("SCT", filePath, file)) {