diff --git a/src/index/base.cpp b/src/index/base.cpp
index 8accc2a6a4..1babfacb15 100644
--- a/src/index/base.cpp
+++ b/src/index/base.cpp
@@ -163,12 +163,6 @@ static const CBlockIndex* NextSyncBlock(const CBlockIndex* pindex_prev, CChain&
 
 void BaseIndex::ThreadSync()
 {
-    // Wait for a possible reindex-chainstate to finish until continuing
-    // with the index sync
-    while (!g_indexes_ready_to_sync) {
-        if (!m_interrupt.sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(500))) return;
-    }
-
     const CBlockIndex* pindex = m_best_block_index.load();
     if (!m_synced) {
         std::chrono::steady_clock::time_point last_log_time{0s};
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 102e7932cd..389654fe4f 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -1570,9 +1570,6 @@ bool AppInitMain(NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockAndHeaderTipInfo* tip_info)
     // Init indexes
     for (auto index : node.indexes) if (!index->Init()) return false;
 
-    // Now that all indexes are loaded, start them
-    if (!StartIndexBackgroundSync(node)) return false;
-
     // ********************************************************* Step 9: load wallet
     for (const auto& client : node.chain_clients) {
         if (!client->load()) {
@@ -1656,9 +1653,15 @@ bool AppInitMain(NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockAndHeaderTipInfo* tip_info)
         vImportFiles.push_back(fs::PathFromString(strFile));
     }
 
-    chainman.m_thread_load = std::thread(&util::TraceThread, "initload", [=, &chainman, &args] {
+    chainman.m_thread_load = std::thread(&util::TraceThread, "initload", [=, &chainman, &args, &node] {
         // Import blocks
         ImportBlocks(chainman, vImportFiles);
+        // Start indexes initial sync
+        if (!StartIndexBackgroundSync(node)) {
+            bilingual_str err_str = _("Failed to start indexes, shutting down..");
+            chainman.GetNotifications().fatalError(err_str.original, err_str);
+            return;
+        }
         // Load mempool from disk
         chainman.ActiveChainstate().LoadMempool(ShouldPersistMempool(args) ? MempoolPath(args) : fs::path{});
     });
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_index_prune.py b/test/functional/feature_index_prune.py
index 77a056346a..d6e802b399 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_index_prune.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_index_prune.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test indices in conjunction with prune."""
+import os
 from test_framework.test_framework import BitcoinTestFramework
 from test_framework.util import (
     assert_equal,
@@ -127,8 +128,9 @@ class FeatureIndexPruneTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.log.info("make sure we get an init error when starting the nodes again with the indices")
         filter_msg = "Error: basic block filter index best block of the index goes beyond pruned data. Please disable the index or reindex (which will download the whole blockchain again)"
         stats_msg = "Error: coinstatsindex best block of the index goes beyond pruned data. Please disable the index or reindex (which will download the whole blockchain again)"
+        end_msg = f"{os.linesep}Error: Failed to start indexes, shutting down.."
         for i, msg in enumerate([filter_msg, stats_msg, filter_msg]):
-            self.nodes[i].assert_start_raises_init_error(extra_args=self.extra_args[i], expected_msg=msg)
+            self.nodes[i].assert_start_raises_init_error(extra_args=self.extra_args[i], expected_msg=msg+end_msg)
 
         self.log.info("make sure the nodes start again with the indices and an additional -reindex arg")
         for i in range(3):