diff --git a/cmd/start/main.go b/cmd/start/main.go
index 0c00fa8a..8e9e8d38 100644
--- a/cmd/start/main.go
+++ b/cmd/start/main.go
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ func main() {
 		return "gosu stolon " + cmd
 	}
 
+	cfg, err := flypg.InitConfig("/fly/cluster-spec.json")
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
 	go func() {
 		t := time.NewTicker(1 * time.Second)
 		defer t.Stop()
@@ -99,10 +104,14 @@ func main() {
 						continue
 					}
 
-					if err = initReplicationUser(context.TODO(), pg, node.ReplCredentials); err != nil {
-						fmt.Println("error configuring replication user:", err)
-						continue
+					// Stolon handles replUser creation during initial bootstrap.
+					if cfg.InitMode == flypg.InitModeExisting {
+						if err = initReplicationUser(context.TODO(), pg, node.ReplCredentials); err != nil {
+							fmt.Println("error configuring replication user:", err)
+							continue
+						}
 					}
+
 				}
 
 				return
@@ -133,7 +142,7 @@ func main() {
 		keeperEnv["STKEEPER_CAN_BE_SYNCHRONOUS_REPLICA"] = "false"
 	}
 
-	svisor.AddProcess("keeper", stolonCmd("stolon-keeper"), supervisor.WithEnv(keeperEnv), supervisor.WithRestart(10, 10*time.Second))
+	svisor.AddProcess("keeper", stolonCmd("stolon-keeper"), supervisor.WithEnv(keeperEnv), supervisor.WithRestart(5, 5*time.Second))
 
 	sentinelEnv := map[string]string{
 		"STSENTINEL_DATA_DIR":             node.DataDir,
@@ -165,10 +174,6 @@ func main() {
 
 	svisor.AddProcess("exporter", "postgres_exporter", supervisor.WithEnv(exporterEnv), supervisor.WithRestart(0, 1*time.Second))
 
-	if err := flypg.InitConfig("/fly/cluster-spec.json"); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
 	svisor.StopOnSignal(syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
 
 	svisor.StartHttpListener()
diff --git a/pkg/flypg/config.go b/pkg/flypg/config.go
index 156b4f84..9b816872 100644
--- a/pkg/flypg/config.go
+++ b/pkg/flypg/config.go
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v3/mem"
 )
 
+const InitModeNew = "new"
+const InitModeExisting = "existing"
+
 type Config struct {
 	InitMode             string            `json:"initMode"`
 	ExistingConfig       map[string]string `json:"existingConfig"`
@@ -27,7 +30,7 @@ type KeeperState struct {
 	ClusterUID string `json:"ClusterUID"`
 }
 
-func InitConfig(filename string) error {
+func InitConfig(filename string) (*Config, error) {
 	filename, err := filepath.Abs(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalln("error cleaning filename", err)
@@ -40,12 +43,12 @@ func InitConfig(filename string) error {
 		writeJson(os.Stdout, cfg)
 		// return
 	} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "error loading cluster spec")
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error loading cluster spec")
 	}
 
 	mem, err := memTotal()
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "error fetching total system memory")
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error fetching total system memory")
 	}
 
 	fmt.Printf("system memory: %dmb vcpu count: %d\n", mem, runtime.NumCPU())
@@ -53,32 +56,32 @@ func InitConfig(filename string) error {
 	workMem := max(4, (mem / 64))
 	maintenanceWorkMem := max(64, (mem / 20))
 
-	initMode := "new"
+	initMode := InitModeNew
 	existingConfig := map[string]string{}
 
 	// Don't blow away postgres directory if it exists.
 	if _, err := os.Stat("/data/postgres"); err == nil {
-		initMode = "existing"
+		initMode = InitModeExisting
 
 		_, err = os.Stat("/data/keeperstate")
-		if os.IsNotExist(err) && initMode == "existing" {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) && initMode == InitModeExisting {
 			// if the keeperstate file does not exist, seed it.
 			// TODO - There is likely a better way to handle this, may take up to 2 minutes for Stolon
 			// to re-register the cluster.
 			data := []byte("{\"UID\":\"ab805b922\"}")
 			if err = ioutil.WriteFile("/data/keeperstate", data, 0644); err != nil {
-				return err
+				return nil, err
 			}
 		}
 
 		var keeperState KeeperState
 		data, err := os.ReadFile("/data/keeperstate")
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 		err = json.Unmarshal(data, &keeperState)
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 		if keeperState.UID != "" {
 			existingConfig["keeperUID"] = keeperState.UID
@@ -107,12 +110,12 @@ func InitConfig(filename string) error {
 	writeJson(os.Stdout, cfg)
 
 	if err := writeConfig(filename, cfg); err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "error writing cluster-spec.json")
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error writing cluster-spec.json")
 	}
 
 	fmt.Println("generated new config")
 
-	return nil
+	return &cfg, nil
 }
 
 func readConfig(filename string) (cfg Config, err error) {