diff --git a/gguf-py/gguf/gguf_writer.py b/gguf-py/gguf/gguf_writer.py
index 7ff14cb88c..b76a0ab596 100644
--- a/gguf-py/gguf/gguf_writer.py
+++ b/gguf-py/gguf/gguf_writer.py
@@ -122,11 +122,11 @@ class GGUFWriter:
             self.path = path
 
         if self.path is not None:
-            self.print_plan()
-            self.fout = [open(filename, "wb") for filename in self.format_shard_names(self.path)]
+            filenames = self.print_plan()
+            self.fout = [open(filename, "wb") for filename in filenames]
             self.state = WriterState.EMPTY
 
-    def print_plan(self) -> None:
+    def print_plan(self) -> list[Path]:
         logger.info("Writing the following files:")
         assert self.path is not None
         filenames = self.format_shard_names(self.path)
@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ class GGUFWriter:
             logger.info("Dry run, not writing files")
             exit()
 
+        return filenames
+
     def add_shard_kv_data(self) -> None:
         if len(self.tensors) == 1:
             return
@@ -152,7 +154,7 @@ class GGUFWriter:
             self.kv_data[i][Keys.Split.LLM_KV_SPLIT_TENSORS_COUNT] = GGUFValue(total_tensors, GGUFValueType.INT32)
 
     def write_header_to_file(self, path: Path | None = None) -> None:
-        if len(self.tensors) == 1:
+        if len(self.tensors) == 1 and (self.split_max_tensors != 0 or self.split_max_size != 0):
             logger.warning("Model fails split requirements, not splitting")
 
         self.open_output_file(path)
@@ -298,13 +300,15 @@ class GGUFWriter:
                 tensor_shape = quant_shape_from_byte_shape(tensor_shape, raw_dtype)
 
         # make sure there is at least one tensor before splitting
-        if (len(self.tensors[-1]) > 0
-                # split when over tensor limit
-                and (self.split_max_tensors != 0 and len(self.tensors[-1]) >= self.split_max_tensors)
-                # or split when over size limit
-                or (self.split_max_size != 0 and sum(ti.nbytes for ti in self.tensors[-1].values()) + tensor_nbytes > self.split_max_size)):
-
-            self.tensors.append(dict())
+        if len(self.tensors[-1]) > 0:
+            if (  # split when over tensor limit
+                self.split_max_tensors != 0
+                and len(self.tensors[-1]) >= self.split_max_tensors
+            ) or (   # split when over size limit
+                self.split_max_size != 0
+                and sum(ti.nbytes for ti in self.tensors[-1].values()) + tensor_nbytes > self.split_max_size
+            ):
+                self.tensors.append({})
 
         self.tensors[-1][name] = TensorInfo(shape=tensor_shape, dtype=dtype, nbytes=tensor_nbytes)
 
@@ -367,12 +371,12 @@ class GGUFWriter:
                 total_bytes = sum(ti.nbytes for t in self.tensors for ti in t.values())
 
                 bar = tqdm(desc="Writing", total=total_bytes, unit="byte", unit_scale=True)
-                shard_bar = tqdm(desc="Shard progress", total=total_bytes, unit="byte", unit_scale=True)
+                if len(self.fout) > 1:
+                    shard_bar = tqdm(desc=f"Shard (1/{len(self.fout)})", total=total_bytes, unit="byte", unit_scale=True)
 
             for i, (fout, tensors) in enumerate(zip(self.fout, self.tensors)):
-                if bar and len(self.fout) > 1:
-                    bar.desc = f"Writing ({i + 1}/{len(self.fout)})"
                 if shard_bar and len(self.fout) > 1:
+                    shard_bar.set_description(f"Shard ({i + 1}/{len(self.fout)})")
                     total = sum(ti.nbytes for ti in tensors.values())
                     # bar behaves weirdly when total is 0
                     if total > 0:
@@ -686,9 +690,6 @@ class GGUFWriter:
 
         return kv_data
 
-    def _write_packed(self, fout: BufferedWriter, fmt: str, value: Any, skip_pack_prefix: bool = False) -> None:
-        fout.write(self._pack(fmt, value, skip_pack_prefix))
-
     @staticmethod
     def format_n_bytes_to_str(num: int) -> str:
         if num == 0: