Disclosed is an ambulatory infusion device, including a pump drive unit (2), a valve drive unit (1) and a control unit (40). The pump drive unit (2) includes a pump actuator (20) and a pump driver (21) coupled to the pump actuator (20), the pump driver (21) being designed for coupling to a piston (302) of a metering pump unit (30) for transmitting a pump driving force and/or pump driving torque from the pump actuator (20) to the piston (302). The valve drive unit (1) includes a valve actuator (10) and a valve driver (12) coupled to the valve actuator (10), the valve driver (12) being designed for coupling to a valve unit (31) for transmitting a valve switching force and/or valve switching torque from the valve actuator (10) to the valve unit (31).The control unit (40) is configured to control a repeated execution of a sequence of:a) operating the valve actuator (10) to switch the valve unit (31) into a filling state;b) operating the pump actuator (20) to displace the piston (302) in a retraction direction;c) operating the pump actuator (20) to displace the piston (302) into an advancing direction, the advancing direction being opposite to the retraction direction, by an backlash compensation distance;d) operating the valve actuator (10) to switch the valve unit (30) from the filling state into a draining state;e) operating the pump actuator (20) to further displace the piston (302) in the advancing direction in a number of incremental steps over an extended time period.