diff --git a/daemons/pacemakerd/pacemakerd.c b/daemons/pacemakerd/pacemakerd.c
index ccfae66..e91982a 100644
--- a/daemons/pacemakerd/pacemakerd.c
+++ b/daemons/pacemakerd/pacemakerd.c
@@ -454,6 +454,7 @@ pcmk_shutdown_worker(gpointer user_data)
     crm_notice("Shutdown complete");
     pacemakerd_state = XML_PING_ATTR_PACEMAKERDSTATE_SHUTDOWNCOMPLETE;
     if (!fatal_error && running_with_sbd &&
+        pcmk__get_sbd_sync_resource_startup() &&
         !shutdown_complete_state_reported_client_closed) {
         return TRUE;
     }
@@ -1248,10 +1249,15 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     mainloop_add_signal(SIGTERM, pcmk_shutdown);
     mainloop_add_signal(SIGINT, pcmk_shutdown);
 
-    if (running_with_sbd) {
+    if ((running_with_sbd) && pcmk__get_sbd_sync_resource_startup()) {
         pacemakerd_state = XML_PING_ATTR_PACEMAKERDSTATE_WAITPING;
         startup_trigger = mainloop_add_trigger(G_PRIORITY_HIGH, init_children_processes, NULL);
     } else {
+        if (running_with_sbd) {
+            crm_warn("Enabling SBD_SYNC_RESOURCE_STARTUP would (if supported "
+                     "by your sbd version) improve reliability of "
+                     "interworking between SBD & pacemaker.");
+        }
         pacemakerd_state = XML_PING_ATTR_PACEMAKERDSTATE_STARTINGDAEMONS;
         init_children_processes(NULL);
     }
diff --git a/include/crm/common/options_internal.h b/include/crm/common/options_internal.h
index db54da4..d0429c9 100644
--- a/include/crm/common/options_internal.h
+++ b/include/crm/common/options_internal.h
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ bool pcmk__valid_utilization(const char *value);
 
 // from watchdog.c
 long pcmk__get_sbd_timeout(void);
+bool pcmk__get_sbd_sync_resource_startup(void);
 long pcmk__auto_watchdog_timeout(void);
 bool pcmk__valid_sbd_timeout(const char *value);
 
diff --git a/lib/common/watchdog.c b/lib/common/watchdog.c
index 9d8896b..8838be6 100644
--- a/lib/common/watchdog.c
+++ b/lib/common/watchdog.c
@@ -227,6 +227,21 @@ pcmk__get_sbd_timeout(void)
     return sbd_timeout;
 }
 
+bool
+pcmk__get_sbd_sync_resource_startup(void)
+{
+    static bool sync_resource_startup = false;
+    static bool checked_sync_resource_startup = false;
+
+    if (!checked_sync_resource_startup) {
+        sync_resource_startup =
+            crm_is_true(getenv("SBD_SYNC_RESOURCE_STARTUP"));
+        checked_sync_resource_startup = true;
+    }
+
+    return sync_resource_startup;
+}
+
 long
 pcmk__auto_watchdog_timeout()
 {