diff --git a/libsql/src/database.rs b/libsql/src/database.rs
index da0cc7dfac..a583c6a652 100644
--- a/libsql/src/database.rs
+++ b/libsql/src/database.rs
@@ -682,17 +682,20 @@ impl Database {
                 };
                 use tokio::sync::Mutex;
 
-                let _ = tokio::task::block_in_place(move || {
-                    let rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new_current_thread()
-                        .enable_all()
-                        .build()
-                        .unwrap();
-                    rt.block_on(async {
+                if let Some(sync_ctx) = &db.sync_ctx {
+                    let sync_ctx_clone = sync_ctx.clone();
+                    std::thread::spawn(move || {
+                        let rt = tokio::runtime::Runtime::new().unwrap();
                         // we will ignore if any errors occurred during the bootstrapping the db,
                         // because the client could be offline when trying to connect.
-                        let _ = db.bootstrap_db().await;
+                        rt.block_on(async {
+                            let mut locked_ctx = sync_ctx_clone.lock().await;
+                            let _ = crate::sync::bootstrap_db(&mut locked_ctx).await;
+                        });
                     })
-                });
+                    .join()
+                    .expect("thread panicked while bootstrapping the db");
+                }
 
                 let local = db.connect()?;