diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/security/server/plugin.ts b/x-pack/plugins/security/server/plugin.ts
index d196dd9f41139..341ab79e97e5b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/security/server/plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/security/server/plugin.ts
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ export class SecurityPlugin
 
   private readonly userSettingService: UserSettingService;
   private userSettingServiceStart?: UserSettingServiceStart;
+  private userProfileSettingsClient: UserProfileSettingsClient;
   private readonly getUserProfileService = () => {
     if (!this.userProfileStart) {
       throw new Error(`userProfileStart is not registered!`);
@@ -233,6 +234,10 @@ export class SecurityPlugin
     );
 
     this.analyticsService = new AnalyticsService(this.initializerContext.logger.get('analytics'));
+
+    this.userProfileSettingsClient = new UserProfileSettingsClient(
+      this.initializerContext.logger.get('user-settings-client')
+    );
   }
 
   public setup(
@@ -255,25 +260,12 @@ export class SecurityPlugin
     const kibanaIndexName = this.getKibanaIndexName();
 
     // A subset of `start` services we need during `setup`.
-    const startServicesPromise = core
-      .getStartServices()
-      .then(([coreServices, depsServices, startServices]) => ({
-        elasticsearch: coreServices.elasticsearch,
-        features: depsServices.features,
-        userProfiles: startServices.userProfiles,
-      }));
-
-    /**
-     * Once the UserProfileServiceStart is available, use it to start the SecurityPlugin > UserSettingService.
-     *
-     * Then the UserProfileSettingsClient is created with the SecurityPlugin > UserSettingServiceStart and set on
-     * the Core > UserSettingsServiceSetup
-     */
-    startServicesPromise.then(({ userProfiles }) => {
-      this.userSettingServiceStart = this.userSettingService.start(userProfiles);
-      const client = new UserProfileSettingsClient(this.userSettingServiceStart);
-      core.userSettings.setUserProfileSettings(client);
-    });
+    const startServicesPromise = core.getStartServices().then(([coreServices, depsServices]) => ({
+      elasticsearch: coreServices.elasticsearch,
+      features: depsServices.features,
+    }));
+
+    core.userSettings.setUserProfileSettings(this.userProfileSettingsClient);
 
     const { license } = this.securityLicenseService.setup({
       license$: licensing.license$,
@@ -408,6 +400,7 @@ export class SecurityPlugin
 
     this.userProfileStart = this.userProfileService.start({ clusterClient, session });
     this.userSettingServiceStart = this.userSettingService.start(this.userProfileStart);
+    this.userProfileSettingsClient.setUserSettingsServiceStart(this.userSettingServiceStart);
 
     // In serverless, we want to redirect users to the list of projects instead of standard "Logged Out" page.
     const customLogoutURL =
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.test.ts
index dfcc88c8ca5a1..46202d5a94ea2 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
+import { loggingSystemMock } from '@kbn/core/server/mocks';
 import type { httpServerMock } from '@kbn/core-http-server-mocks';
+import type { Logger } from '@kbn/logging';
 
 import { UserProfileSettingsClient } from './user_profile_settings_client';
 import type { UserSettingServiceStart } from './user_setting_service';
@@ -13,20 +15,31 @@ import type { UserSettingServiceStart } from './user_setting_service';
 describe('UserProfileSettingsClient', () => {
   let mockRequest: ReturnType<typeof httpServerMock.createKibanaRequest>;
   let client: UserProfileSettingsClient;
+  let logger: Logger;
+  let userSettingServiceStart: jest.Mocked<UserSettingServiceStart>;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    const userSettingsServiceStart = {
+    userSettingServiceStart = {
       getCurrentUserProfileSettings: jest.fn(),
-    } as jest.Mocked<UserSettingServiceStart>;
+    };
 
-    userSettingsServiceStart.getCurrentUserProfileSettings.mockResolvedValue({ darkMode: 'dark' });
+    userSettingServiceStart.getCurrentUserProfileSettings.mockResolvedValue({ darkMode: 'dark' });
 
-    client = new UserProfileSettingsClient(userSettingsServiceStart);
+    logger = loggingSystemMock.createLogger();
+    client = new UserProfileSettingsClient(logger);
   });
 
   describe('#get', () => {
-    it('should return user settings', async () => {
+    it('should return empty before UserSettingServiceStart is set', async () => {
       const userSettings = await client.get(mockRequest);
+      expect(userSettings).toEqual({});
+      expect(logger.debug).toHaveBeenCalledWith('UserSettingsServiceStart has not been set yet');
+    });
+
+    it('should return user settings after UserSettingServiceStart is set', async () => {
+      client.setUserSettingsServiceStart(userSettingServiceStart);
+      const userSettings = await client.get(mockRequest);
+
       expect(userSettings).toEqual({ darkMode: 'dark' });
     });
   });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.ts b/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.ts
index a888f22256acc..03bf4855cbc79 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/security/server/user_profile/user_profile_settings_client.ts
@@ -4,28 +4,42 @@
  * 2.0; you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License
  * 2.0.
  */
-
+import type { Logger } from '@kbn/core/server';
 import type { KibanaRequest } from '@kbn/core-http-server';
 import type { UserProfileSettingsClientContract } from '@kbn/core-user-settings-server';
 
 import type { UserSettingServiceStart } from './user_setting_service';
-
 /**
  * A wrapper client around {@link UserSettingServiceStart} that exposes a method to get the current user's profile
  */
 export class UserProfileSettingsClient implements UserProfileSettingsClientContract {
-  private userSettingsServiceStart: UserSettingServiceStart;
+  private userSettingServiceStart: UserSettingServiceStart | undefined;
+  private logger: Logger;
 
-  constructor(userSettingsServiceStart: UserSettingServiceStart) {
-    this.userSettingsServiceStart = userSettingsServiceStart;
+  constructor(logger: Logger) {
+    this.logger = logger;
   }
 
   /**
    * Returns the current user's user profile settings
    *
    * @param request the KibanaRequest that is required to get the current user and their settings
+   * @return the User Settings values retrieved from the UserSettingsServiceStart, if it has been set, otherwise,
+   * default to an empty Record
    */
   async get(request: KibanaRequest): Promise<Record<string, string>> {
-    return await this.userSettingsServiceStart.getCurrentUserProfileSettings(request);
+    let result: Record<string, string> = {} as Record<string, string>;
+
+    if (this.userSettingServiceStart) {
+      result = await this.userSettingServiceStart.getCurrentUserProfileSettings(request);
+    } else {
+      this.logger.debug('UserSettingsServiceStart has not been set yet');
+    }
+
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  setUserSettingsServiceStart(userSettingServiceStart: UserSettingServiceStart) {
+    this.userSettingServiceStart = userSettingServiceStart;
   }
 }