diff --git a/internal/consensus/reactor.go b/internal/consensus/reactor.go
index 1a9d49057..501523339 100644
--- a/internal/consensus/reactor.go
+++ b/internal/consensus/reactor.go
@@ -216,6 +216,8 @@ func (r *Reactor) OnStart(ctx context.Context) error {
 		if err := r.state.Start(ctx); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+	} else if err := r.state.updateStateFromStore(); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	go r.updateRoundStateRoutine(ctx)
diff --git a/internal/consensus/state.go b/internal/consensus/state.go
index b016e2687..320042d30 100644
--- a/internal/consensus/state.go
+++ b/internal/consensus/state.go
@@ -122,9 +122,8 @@ type State struct {
 	// store blocks and commits
 	blockStore sm.BlockStore
 
-	stateStore            sm.Store
-	initialStatePopulated bool
-	skipBootstrapping     bool
+	stateStore        sm.Store
+	skipBootstrapping bool
 
 	// create and execute blocks
 	blockExec *sm.BlockExecutor
@@ -248,9 +247,6 @@ func NewState(
 }
 
 func (cs *State) updateStateFromStore() error {
-	if cs.initialStatePopulated {
-		return nil
-	}
 	state, err := cs.stateStore.Load()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("loading state: %w", err)
@@ -259,6 +255,15 @@ func (cs *State) updateStateFromStore() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	eq, err := state.Equals(cs.state)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("comparing state: %w", err)
+	}
+	// if the new state is equivalent to the old state, we should not trigger a state update.
+	if eq {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	// We have no votes, so reconstruct LastCommit from SeenCommit.
 	if state.LastBlockHeight > 0 {
 		cs.reconstructLastCommit(state)
@@ -266,7 +271,6 @@ func (cs *State) updateStateFromStore() error {
 
 	cs.updateToState(state)
 
-	cs.initialStatePopulated = true
 	return nil
 }