diff --git a/server/core/gateway.cc b/server/core/gateway.cc
index 82c7d94b7..d2cb4aafa 100644
--- a/server/core/gateway.cc
+++ b/server/core/gateway.cc
@@ -1413,6 +1413,33 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     const char* specified_user = NULL;
     char export_cnf[PATH_MAX + 1] = "";
 
+    /**
+     * The following lambda function is executed as the first event on the main worker. This is what starts
+     * up the listeners for all services.
+     *
+     * Due to the fact that the main thread runs a worker thread we have to queue the starting
+     * of the listeners to happen after all workers have started. This allows worker messages to be used
+     * when listeners are being started.
+     *
+     * Once the main worker is dedicated to doing work other than handling traffic the code could be executed
+     * immediately after the worker thread have been started. This would make the startup logic clearer as
+     * the order of the events would be the way they appear to be.
+     */
+    auto do_startup = [&]() {
+            if (!service_launch_all())
+            {
+                const char* logerr = "Failed to start all MaxScale services. Exiting.";
+                print_log_n_stderr(true, true, logerr, logerr, 0);
+                rc = MAXSCALE_NOSERVICES;
+                RoutingWorker::shutdown_all();
+            }
+            else if (daemon_mode)
+            {
+                // Successful start, notify the parent process that it can exit.
+                write_child_exit_code(daemon_pipe[1], rc);
+            }
+        };
+
     config_init();
     config_set_global_defaults();
     mxb_assert(cnf);
@@ -2177,17 +2204,6 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     /** Start all monitors */
     monitor_start_all();
 
-    /** Start the services that were created above */
-    n_services = service_launch_all();
-
-    if (n_services == -1)
-    {
-        const char* logerr = "Failed to start all MaxScale services. Exiting.";
-        print_log_n_stderr(true, true, logerr, logerr, 0);
-        rc = MAXSCALE_NOSERVICES;
-        goto return_main;
-    }
-
     if (cnf->config_check)
     {
         MXS_NOTICE("Configuration was successfully verified.");
@@ -2241,20 +2257,20 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
                config_threadcount(),
                config_thread_stack_size());
 
-    /**
-     * Successful start, notify the parent process that it can exit.
-     */
-    mxb_assert(rc == MAXSCALE_SHUTDOWN);
-    if (daemon_mode)
+    worker = RoutingWorker::get(RoutingWorker::MAIN);
+    mxb_assert(worker);
+
+    if (!worker->execute(do_startup, RoutingWorker::EXECUTE_QUEUED))
     {
-        write_child_exit_code(daemon_pipe[1], rc);
+        const char* logerr = "Failed to queue startup task.";
+        print_log_n_stderr(true, true, logerr, logerr, 0);
+        rc = MAXSCALE_INTERNALERROR;
+        goto return_main;
     }
 
     /*<
      * Run worker 0 in the main thread.
      */
-    worker = RoutingWorker::get(RoutingWorker::MAIN);
-    mxb_assert(worker);
     worker->run();
 
     /** Stop administrative interface */
diff --git a/server/core/internal/service.hh b/server/core/internal/service.hh
index ec7b1519f..a9946e163 100644
--- a/server/core/internal/service.hh
+++ b/server/core/internal/service.hh
@@ -195,18 +195,9 @@ void service_destroy_instances(void);
  * Initialize and start all services. This should only be called once by the
  * main initialization code.
  *
- * @return Number of successfully started services or -1 on error
+ * @return False if a fatal error occurred
  */
-int service_launch_all(void);
-
-/**
- * Perform thread-specific initialization
- *
- * Currently this function only pre-loads users for all threads.
- *
- * @return True on success, false on error (currently always returns true).
- */
-bool service_thread_init();
+bool service_launch_all(void);
 
 /**
  * @brief Remove a listener from use
diff --git a/server/core/routingworker.cc b/server/core/routingworker.cc
index 783baacdb..c317cc5b9 100644
--- a/server/core/routingworker.cc
+++ b/server/core/routingworker.cc
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ bool RoutingWorker::pre_run()
 {
     this_thread.current_worker_id = m_id;
 
-    bool rv = modules_thread_init() && service_thread_init() && qc_thread_init(QC_INIT_SELF);
+    bool rv = modules_thread_init() && qc_thread_init(QC_INIT_SELF);
 
     if (!rv)
     {
diff --git a/server/core/service.cc b/server/core/service.cc
index df9f6a2f7..926d6da77 100644
--- a/server/core/service.cc
+++ b/server/core/service.cc
@@ -422,10 +422,10 @@ bool serviceStartListener(SERVICE* svc, const char* name)
     return listener && listener->service() == svc && listener->start();
 }
 
-int service_launch_all()
+bool service_launch_all()
 {
     int n = 0, i;
-    bool error = false;
+    bool ok = true;
     int num_svc = this_unit.services.size();
 
     MXS_NOTICE("Starting a total of %d services...", num_svc);
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ int service_launch_all()
         if (i == 0)
         {
             MXS_ERROR("Failed to start service '%s'.", service->name);
-            error = true;
+            ok = false;
         }
 
         if (maxscale_is_shutting_down())
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ int service_launch_all()
         }
     }
 
-    return error ? -1 : n;
+    return ok;
 }
 
 bool serviceStop(SERVICE* service)
@@ -1911,21 +1911,6 @@ uint64_t service_get_version(const SERVICE* svc, service_version_which_t which)
     return version;
 }
 
-bool service_thread_init()
-{
-    LockGuard guard(this_unit.lock);
-
-    for (Service* service : this_unit.services)
-    {
-        if (service->capabilities & ACAP_TYPE_ASYNC)
-        {
-            service_refresh_users(service);
-        }
-    }
-
-    return true;
-}
-
 bool Service::is_basic_parameter(const std::string& name)
 {
     static const std::set<std::string> names =