diff --git a/src/server/engine_shard_set.cc b/src/server/engine_shard_set.cc
index 1bd9ff651..481d11981 100644
--- a/src/server/engine_shard_set.cc
+++ b/src/server/engine_shard_set.cc
@@ -108,8 +108,10 @@ class RoundRobinSharder {
   }
 
   static void Destroy() {
-    round_robin_shards_.clear();
     round_robin_shards_tl_cache_.clear();
+
+    std::lock_guard guard(mutex_);
+    round_robin_shards_.clear();
   }
 
   static bool IsEnabled() {
@@ -307,7 +309,7 @@ uint32_t EngineShard::DefragTask() {
   return kRunAtLowPriority;
 }
 
-EngineShard::EngineShard(util::ProactorBase* pb, bool update_db_time, mi_heap_t* heap)
+EngineShard::EngineShard(util::ProactorBase* pb, mi_heap_t* heap)
     : queue_(kQueueLen),
       txq_([](const Transaction* t) { return t->txid(); }),
       mi_resource_(heap),
@@ -317,17 +319,6 @@ EngineShard::EngineShard(util::ProactorBase* pb, bool update_db_time, mi_heap_t*
     queue_.Run();
   });
 
-  if (update_db_time) {
-    uint32_t clock_cycle_ms = 1000 / std::max<uint32_t>(1, GetFlag(FLAGS_hz));
-    if (clock_cycle_ms == 0)
-      clock_cycle_ms = 1;
-
-    fiber_periodic_ = MakeFiber([this, index = pb->GetIndex(), period_ms = clock_cycle_ms] {
-      ThisFiber::SetName(absl::StrCat("shard_periodic", index));
-      RunPeriodic(std::chrono::milliseconds(period_ms));
-    });
-  }
-
   tmp_str1 = sdsempty();
 
   db_slice_.UpdateExpireBase(absl::GetCurrentTimeNanos() / 1000000, 0);
@@ -355,12 +346,23 @@ void EngineShard::Shutdown() {
   ProactorBase::me()->RemoveOnIdleTask(defrag_task_);
 }
 
+void EngineShard::StartPeriodicFiber(util::ProactorBase* pb) {
+  uint32_t clock_cycle_ms = 1000 / std::max<uint32_t>(1, GetFlag(FLAGS_hz));
+  if (clock_cycle_ms == 0)
+    clock_cycle_ms = 1;
+
+  fiber_periodic_ = MakeFiber([this, index = pb->GetIndex(), period_ms = clock_cycle_ms] {
+    ThisFiber::SetName(absl::StrCat("shard_periodic", index));
+    RunPeriodic(std::chrono::milliseconds(period_ms));
+  });
+}
+
 void EngineShard::InitThreadLocal(ProactorBase* pb, bool update_db_time) {
   CHECK(shard_ == nullptr) << pb->GetIndex();
 
   mi_heap_t* data_heap = ServerState::tlocal()->data_heap();
   void* ptr = mi_heap_malloc_aligned(data_heap, sizeof(EngineShard), alignof(EngineShard));
-  shard_ = new (ptr) EngineShard(pb, update_db_time, data_heap);
+  shard_ = new (ptr) EngineShard(pb, data_heap);
 
   CompactObj::InitThreadLocal(shard_->memory_resource());
   SmallString::InitThreadLocal(data_heap);
@@ -380,6 +382,11 @@ void EngineShard::InitThreadLocal(ProactorBase* pb, bool update_db_time) {
   RoundRobinSharder::Init();
 
   shard_->shard_search_indices_.reset(new ShardDocIndices());
+
+  if (update_db_time) {
+    // Must be last, as it accesses objects initialized above.
+    shard_->StartPeriodicFiber(pb);
+  }
 }
 
 void EngineShard::DestroyThreadLocal() {
diff --git a/src/server/engine_shard_set.h b/src/server/engine_shard_set.h
index 0464ea6dc..0968ca171 100644
--- a/src/server/engine_shard_set.h
+++ b/src/server/engine_shard_set.h
@@ -174,11 +174,13 @@ class EngineShard {
     void ResetScanState();
   };
 
-  EngineShard(util::ProactorBase* pb, bool update_db_time, mi_heap_t* heap);
+  EngineShard(util::ProactorBase* pb, mi_heap_t* heap);
 
   // blocks the calling fiber.
   void Shutdown();  // called before destructing EngineShard.
 
+  void StartPeriodicFiber(util::ProactorBase* pb);
+
   void Heartbeat();
   void RunPeriodic(std::chrono::milliseconds period_ms);