diff --git a/ts/RemoteConfig.ts b/ts/RemoteConfig.ts
index 7c31a0108b..8be82ec26c 100644
--- a/ts/RemoteConfig.ts
+++ b/ts/RemoteConfig.ts
@@ -65,11 +65,6 @@ export function restoreRemoteConfigFromStorage(): void {
   config = window.storage.get('remoteConfig') || {};
 }
 
-export async function initRemoteConfig(server: WebAPIType): Promise<void> {
-  restoreRemoteConfigFromStorage();
-  await maybeRefreshRemoteConfig(server);
-}
-
 export function onChange(
   key: ConfigKeyType,
   fn: ConfigListenerType
@@ -83,7 +78,7 @@ export function onChange(
   };
 }
 
-export const refreshRemoteConfig = async (
+export const _refreshRemoteConfig = async (
   server: WebAPIType
 ): Promise<void> => {
   const now = Date.now();
@@ -93,7 +88,7 @@ export const refreshRemoteConfig = async (
 
   if (Math.abs(serverTimeSkew) > HOUR) {
     log.warn(
-      'Remote Config: sever clock skew detected. ' +
+      'Remote Config: severe clock skew detected. ' +
         `Server time ${serverTimestamp}, local time ${now}`
     );
   }
@@ -154,12 +149,21 @@ export const refreshRemoteConfig = async (
 };
 
 export const maybeRefreshRemoteConfig = throttle(
-  refreshRemoteConfig,
+  _refreshRemoteConfig,
   // Only fetch remote configuration if the last fetch was more than two hours ago
   2 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
   { trailing: false }
 );
 
+export async function forceRefreshRemoteConfig(
+  server: WebAPIType,
+  reason: string
+): Promise<void> {
+  log.info(`forceRefreshRemoteConfig: ${reason}`);
+  maybeRefreshRemoteConfig.cancel();
+  await _refreshRemoteConfig(server);
+}
+
 export function isEnabled(name: ConfigKeyType): boolean {
   return get(config, [name, 'enabled'], false);
 }
diff --git a/ts/background.ts b/ts/background.ts
index 1c198da463..de1fbf0977 100644
--- a/ts/background.ts
+++ b/ts/background.ts
@@ -400,7 +400,9 @@ export async function startApp(): Promise<void> {
     }
     return server.getSocketStatus();
   };
+
   let accountManager: AccountManager;
+  let isInRegistration = false;
   window.getAccountManager = () => {
     if (accountManager) {
       return accountManager;
@@ -411,12 +413,14 @@ export async function startApp(): Promise<void> {
 
     accountManager = new window.textsecure.AccountManager(server);
     accountManager.addEventListener('startRegistration', () => {
+      isInRegistration = true;
       pauseProcessing();
 
       backupReady.reject(new Error('startRegistration'));
       backupReady = explodePromise();
     });
     accountManager.addEventListener('registration', () => {
+      isInRegistration = false;
       window.Whisper.events.trigger('userChanged', false);
 
       drop(Registration.markDone());
@@ -1038,8 +1042,6 @@ export async function startApp(): Promise<void> {
       }
     });
 
-    void window.Signal.RemoteConfig.initRemoteConfig(server);
-
     const retryPlaceholders = new RetryPlaceholders({
       retryReceiptLifespan: HOUR,
     });
@@ -1489,10 +1491,6 @@ export async function startApp(): Promise<void> {
 
       strictAssert(server !== undefined, 'WebAPI not ready');
 
-      // Cancel throttled calls to refreshRemoteConfig since our auth changed.
-      window.Signal.RemoteConfig.maybeRefreshRemoteConfig.cancel();
-      drop(window.Signal.RemoteConfig.maybeRefreshRemoteConfig(server));
-
       drop(connect(true));
 
       // Connect messageReceiver back to websocket
@@ -1594,7 +1592,9 @@ export async function startApp(): Promise<void> {
     const onOnline = () => {
       log.info('background: online');
 
-      if (!remotelyExpired) {
+      // Do not attempt to connect while expired or in-the-middle of
+      // registration
+      if (!remotelyExpired && !isInRegistration) {
         drop(connect());
       }
     };
@@ -1848,11 +1848,14 @@ export async function startApp(): Promise<void> {
         drop(AttachmentBackupManager.start());
       }
 
-      if (connectCount === 0) {
+      if (connectCount === 0 || firstRun) {
         try {
           // Force a re-fetch before we process our queue. We may want to turn on
           //   something which changes how we process incoming messages!
-          await window.Signal.RemoteConfig.refreshRemoteConfig(server);
+          await window.Signal.RemoteConfig.forceRefreshRemoteConfig(
+            server,
+            `connectCount=${connectCount} firstRun=${firstRun}`
+          );
 
           const expiration = window.Signal.RemoteConfig.getValue(
             'desktop.clientExpiration'
diff --git a/ts/test-both/helpers/RemoteConfigStub.ts b/ts/test-both/helpers/RemoteConfigStub.ts
index e0da5d557a..68db67f6a7 100644
--- a/ts/test-both/helpers/RemoteConfigStub.ts
+++ b/ts/test-both/helpers/RemoteConfigStub.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright 2022 Signal Messenger, LLC
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
 
-import { refreshRemoteConfig } from '../../RemoteConfig';
+import { _refreshRemoteConfig } from '../../RemoteConfig';
 import type {
   WebAPIType,
   RemoteConfigResponseType,
@@ -16,5 +16,5 @@ export async function updateRemoteConfig(
     },
   } as Partial<WebAPIType> as unknown as WebAPIType;
 
-  await refreshRemoteConfig(fakeServer);
+  await _refreshRemoteConfig(fakeServer);
 }