diff --git a/lib/syncthing/syncthing.go b/lib/syncthing/syncthing.go
index 6e8518b43..bdedd0889 100644
--- a/lib/syncthing/syncthing.go
+++ b/lib/syncthing/syncthing.go
@@ -110,16 +110,6 @@ func New(cfg config.Wrapper, dbBackend backend.Backend, evLogger events.Logger,
 // e.g. the API is ready for use.
 // Must be called once only.
 func (a *App) Start() error {
-	if err := a.startup(); err != nil {
-		a.stopWithErr(ExitError, err)
-		return err
-	}
-	a.stopped = make(chan struct{})
-	go a.run()
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (a *App) startup() error {
 	// Create a main service manager. We'll add things to this as we go along.
 	// We want any logging it does to go through our log system.
 	a.mainService = suture.New("main", suture.Spec{
@@ -128,8 +118,22 @@ func (a *App) startup() error {
 		},
 		PassThroughPanics: true,
 	})
-	a.mainService.Add(a.ll)
+
+	// Start the supervisor and wait for it to stop to handle cleanup.
+	a.stopped = make(chan struct{})
 	a.mainService.ServeBackground()
+	go a.run()
+
+	if err := a.startup(); err != nil {
+		a.stopWithErr(ExitError, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (a *App) startup() error {
+	a.mainService.Add(a.ll)
 
 	if a.opts.AuditWriter != nil {
 		a.mainService.Add(newAuditService(a.opts.AuditWriter, a.evLogger))
diff --git a/lib/syncthing/syncthing_test.go b/lib/syncthing/syncthing_test.go
index d1de4f021..b45f8f3a2 100644
--- a/lib/syncthing/syncthing_test.go
+++ b/lib/syncthing/syncthing_test.go
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ func TestStartupFail(t *testing.T) {
 	}, events.NoopLogger)
 	defer os.Remove(cfg.ConfigPath())
 
-	app := New(cfg, backend.OpenMemory(), events.NoopLogger, cert, Options{})
+	db := backend.OpenMemory()
+	app := New(cfg, db, events.NoopLogger, cert, Options{})
 	startErr := app.Start()
 	if startErr == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Expected an error from Start, got nil")
@@ -104,4 +105,11 @@ func TestStartupFail(t *testing.T) {
 	if err = app.Error(); err != startErr {
 		t.Errorf(`Got different errors "%v" from Start and "%v" from Error`, startErr, err)
 	}
+
+	if trans, err := db.NewReadTransaction(); err == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected error due to db being closed, got nil")
+		trans.Release()
+	} else if !backend.IsClosed(err) {
+		t.Error("Expected error due to db being closed, got", err)
+	}
 }