diff --git a/dali/base/dadfs.cpp b/dali/base/dadfs.cpp
index 5c4da62b457..8eeac19b9bc 100644
--- a/dali/base/dadfs.cpp
+++ b/dali/base/dadfs.cpp
@@ -10756,10 +10756,11 @@ class CInitGroups
 
     void constructStorageGroups(bool force, StringBuffer &messages)
     {
-        Owned<IPropertyTree> storage = getGlobalConfigSP()->getPropTree("storage");
+        Owned<IPropertyTree> globalConfig = getGlobalConfig();
+        Owned<IPropertyTree> storage = globalConfig->getPropTree("storage");
         if (storage)
         {
-            normalizeHostGroups();
+            normalizeHostGroups(globalConfig);
 
             Owned<IPropertyTreeIterator> planes = storage->getElements("planes");
             ForEach(*planes)
diff --git a/dali/base/dafdesc.cpp b/dali/base/dafdesc.cpp
index b3def355529..5b47e2707eb 100644
--- a/dali/base/dafdesc.cpp
+++ b/dali/base/dafdesc.cpp
@@ -3786,7 +3786,7 @@ static void doInitializeStorageGroups(bool createPlanesFromGroups, IPropertyTree
     }
 
     //Ensure that host groups that are defined in terms of other host groups are expanded out so they have an explicit list of hosts
-    normalizeHostGroups();
+    normalizeHostGroups(newGlobalConfiguration);
 
     //The following can be removed once the storage planes have better integration
     setupContainerizedStorageLocations();
diff --git a/dali/base/dameta.cpp b/dali/base/dameta.cpp
index 44dcbe481e8..f35dfab9f0c 100644
--- a/dali/base/dameta.cpp
+++ b/dali/base/dameta.cpp
@@ -21,10 +21,12 @@
 #include "dautils.hpp"
 
 
-// Expand indirect hostGroups so each hostGroups has an expanded list of host names
-void normalizeHostGroups()
+//Expand indirect hostGroups so each hostGroups has an expanded list of host names
+//This function cannot use (directly or indirectly) getGlobalConfig(), because it may be called when creating
+//a new config.
+void normalizeHostGroups(IPropertyTree * globalConfig)
 {
-    Owned<IPropertyTreeIterator> hostGroupIter = getGlobalConfigSP()->getElements("storage/hostGroups");
+    Owned<IPropertyTreeIterator> hostGroupIter = globalConfig->getElements("storage/hostGroups");
     //Process the groups in order - so that multiple levels of indirection are supported
     ForEach (*hostGroupIter)
     {
@@ -33,7 +35,15 @@ void normalizeHostGroups()
         {
             const char * name = cur.queryProp("@name");
             const char * baseGroup = cur.queryProp("@hostGroup");
-            Owned<IPropertyTree> match = getHostGroup(baseGroup, true);
+            if (!baseGroup)
+                throw makeStringExceptionV(-1, "HostGroup %s with no hosts does not have a base hostgroup", name ? name : "<null>");
+
+            //Cannot call getHostGroup() because that uses getGlobalConfig()
+            VStringBuffer xpath("storage/hostGroups[@name='%s']", baseGroup);
+            IPropertyTree * match = globalConfig->queryPropTree(xpath);
+            if (!match)
+                throw makeStringExceptionV(-1, "No entry found for hostGroup: '%s'", baseGroup);
+
             StringArray hosts;
             Owned<IPropertyTreeIterator> hostIter = match->getElements("hosts");
             ForEach (*hostIter)
diff --git a/dali/base/dameta.hpp b/dali/base/dameta.hpp
index c791db82960..f392f56e5f8 100644
--- a/dali/base/dameta.hpp
+++ b/dali/base/dameta.hpp
@@ -58,6 +58,6 @@ constexpr ResolveOptions operator &(ResolveOptions l, ResolveOptions r) { return
  */
 
 extern da_decl IPropertyTree * resolveLogicalFilenameFromDali(const char * filename, IUserDescriptor * user, ResolveOptions options);
-extern da_decl void normalizeHostGroups();  // Expand indirect hostGroups so each hostGroups has an expanded list of host names
+extern da_decl void normalizeHostGroups(IPropertyTree * globalConfig);  // Expand indirect hostGroups so each hostGroups has an expanded list of host names
 
 #endif
diff --git a/dali/base/dautils.cpp b/dali/base/dautils.cpp
index 7ad40dfd672..d25e0a7ef9a 100644
--- a/dali/base/dautils.cpp
+++ b/dali/base/dautils.cpp
@@ -88,8 +88,9 @@ bool getPlaneHost(StringBuffer &host, IPropertyTree *plane, unsigned which)
     if (!hostGroup)
         return false;
 
-    if (which >= hostGroup->getCount("hosts"))
-        throw makeStringException(0, "getPlaneHost: index out of range");
+    unsigned maxHosts = hostGroup->getCount("hosts");
+    if (which >= maxHosts)
+        throw makeStringExceptionV(0, "getPlaneHost: index %u out of range 1..%u", which, maxHosts);
     VStringBuffer xpath("hosts[%u]", which+1); // which is 0 based
     host.append(hostGroup->queryProp(xpath));
     return true;