diff --git a/main.cc b/main.cc
index 3dbc018ba7..85816061b3 100644
--- a/main.cc
+++ b/main.cc
@@ -1071,6 +1071,8 @@ int main(int ac, char** av) {
                 gms::stop_gossiping().get();
             });
 
+            sys_dist_ks.start(std::ref(qp), std::ref(mm)).get();
+
             ss.init_server().get();
             sst_format_selector.sync();
             ss.join_cluster().get();
diff --git a/service/storage_service.cc b/service/storage_service.cc
index 950c475783..f2a7f57e22 100644
--- a/service/storage_service.cc
+++ b/service/storage_service.cc
@@ -391,7 +391,6 @@ void storage_service::prepare_to_join(
 
 void storage_service::maybe_start_sys_dist_ks() {
     supervisor::notify("starting system distributed keyspace");
-    _sys_dist_ks.start(std::ref(cql3::get_query_processor()), std::ref(service::get_migration_manager())).get();
     _sys_dist_ks.invoke_on_all(&db::system_distributed_keyspace::start).get();
 }
 
diff --git a/test/lib/cql_test_env.cc b/test/lib/cql_test_env.cc
index f6b8fce2c6..3a0a797df7 100644
--- a/test/lib/cql_test_env.cc
+++ b/test/lib/cql_test_env.cc
@@ -561,6 +561,8 @@ public:
             db::system_keyspace::init_local_cache().get();
             auto stop_local_cache = defer([] { db::system_keyspace::deinit_local_cache().get(); });
 
+            sys_dist_ks.start(std::ref(qp), std::ref(mm)).get();
+
             service::get_local_storage_service().init_server(service::bind_messaging_port(false)).get();
             service::get_local_storage_service().join_cluster().get();