diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index be981808e9..1d4c56a25b 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -1717,6 +1717,28 @@ bool AppInitMain(const util::Ref& context, NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockA
         }
     }
 
+    assert(activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator == nullptr);
+    assert(activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator == nullptr);
+    fMasternodeMode = false;
+    std::string strMasterNodeBLSPrivKey = args.GetArg("-masternodeblsprivkey", "");
+    if (!strMasterNodeBLSPrivKey.empty()) {
+        CBLSSecretKey keyOperator(ParseHex(strMasterNodeBLSPrivKey));
+        if (!keyOperator.IsValid()) {
+            return InitError(_("Invalid masternodeblsprivkey. Please see documentation."));
+        }
+        fMasternodeMode = true;
+        {
+            LOCK(activeMasternodeInfoCs);
+            activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSSecretKey>(keyOperator);
+            activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSPublicKey>(keyOperator.GetPublicKey());
+        }
+        LogPrintf("MASTERNODE:\n  blsPubKeyOperator: %s\n", activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator->ToString());
+    } else {
+        LOCK(activeMasternodeInfoCs);
+        activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSSecretKey>();
+        activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSPublicKey>();
+    }
+
     assert(!node.scheduler);
     node.scheduler = MakeUnique<CScheduler>();
 
@@ -1914,6 +1936,12 @@ bool AppInitMain(const util::Ref& context, NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockA
     pdsNotificationInterface = new CDSNotificationInterface(*node.connman);
     RegisterValidationInterface(pdsNotificationInterface);
 
+    if (fMasternodeMode) {
+        // Create and register activeMasternodeManager, will init later in ThreadImport
+        activeMasternodeManager = new CActiveMasternodeManager(*node.connman);
+        RegisterValidationInterface(activeMasternodeManager);
+    }
+
     uint64_t nMaxOutboundLimit = 0; //unlimited unless -maxuploadtarget is set
     uint64_t nMaxOutboundTimeframe = MAX_UPLOAD_TIMEFRAME;
 
@@ -2282,43 +2310,7 @@ bool AppInitMain(const util::Ref& context, NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockA
         return false;
     }
 
-    // ********************************************************* Step 10a: Prepare Masternode related stuff
-    fMasternodeMode = false;
-    std::string strMasterNodeBLSPrivKey = args.GetArg("-masternodeblsprivkey", "");
-    if (!strMasterNodeBLSPrivKey.empty()) {
-        auto binKey = ParseHex(strMasterNodeBLSPrivKey);
-        CBLSSecretKey keyOperator(binKey);
-        if (!keyOperator.IsValid()) {
-            return InitError(_("Invalid masternodeblsprivkey. Please see documentation."));
-        }
-        fMasternodeMode = true;
-        {
-            LOCK(activeMasternodeInfoCs);
-            activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSSecretKey>(keyOperator);
-            activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSPublicKey>(
-                    activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator->GetPublicKey());
-        }
-        LogPrintf("MASTERNODE:\n");
-        LogPrintf("  blsPubKeyOperator: %s\n", keyOperator.GetPublicKey().ToString());
-    }
-
-    if(fMasternodeMode) {
-        // Create and register activeMasternodeManager, will init later in ThreadImport
-        activeMasternodeManager = new CActiveMasternodeManager(*node.connman);
-        RegisterValidationInterface(activeMasternodeManager);
-    }
-
-    {
-        LOCK(activeMasternodeInfoCs);
-        if (activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator == nullptr) {
-            activeMasternodeInfo.blsKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSSecretKey>();
-        }
-        if (activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator == nullptr) {
-            activeMasternodeInfo.blsPubKeyOperator = std::make_unique<CBLSPublicKey>();
-        }
-    }
-
-    // ********************************************************* Step 10b: setup CoinJoin
+    // ********************************************************* Step 10a: Setup CoinJoin
 
     g_wallet_init_interface.InitCoinJoinSettings();
 
@@ -2373,7 +2365,7 @@ bool AppInitMain(const util::Ref& context, NodeContext& node, interfaces::BlockA
         }
     }
 
-    // ********************************************************* Step 10c: schedule Dash-specific tasks
+    // ********************************************************* Step 10b: schedule Dash-specific tasks
 
     node.scheduler->scheduleEvery(std::bind(&CNetFulfilledRequestManager::DoMaintenance, std::ref(netfulfilledman)), 60 * 1000);
     node.scheduler->scheduleEvery(std::bind(&CMasternodeSync::DoMaintenance, std::ref(masternodeSync), std::ref(*node.connman)), 1 * 1000);
diff --git a/src/llmq/dkgsessionmgr.cpp b/src/llmq/dkgsessionmgr.cpp
index 88e0b0ce75..b48d1d7154 100644
--- a/src/llmq/dkgsessionmgr.cpp
+++ b/src/llmq/dkgsessionmgr.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ CDKGSessionManager::CDKGSessionManager(CConnman& _connman, CBLSWorker& _blsWorke
         db(std::make_unique<CDBWrapper>(unitTests ? "" : (GetDataDir() / "llmq/dkgdb"), 1 << 20, unitTests, fWipe)),
         blsWorker(_blsWorker), connman(_connman)
 {
+    if (!fMasternodeMode && !CLLMQUtils::IsWatchQuorumsEnabled()) {
+        // Regular nodes do not care about any DKG internals, bail out
+        return;
+    }
+
     MigrateDKG();
 
     const Consensus::Params& consensus_params = Params().GetConsensus();