diff --git a/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/logs_controller.rs b/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/logs_controller.rs
index 5935181af..c522dadb0 100644
--- a/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/logs_controller.rs
+++ b/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/logs_controller.rs
@@ -19,16 +19,13 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 use futures::never::Never;
 use rand::prelude::IteratorRandom;
 use rand::thread_rng;
-use restate_types::config::Configuration;
 use tokio::sync::Semaphore;
 use tokio::task::JoinSet;
 use tracing::{debug, error, trace, trace_span, Instrument};
 use xxhash_rust::xxh3::Xxh3Builder;
 
 use restate_bifrost::{Bifrost, Error as BifrostError};
-use restate_core::metadata_store::{
-    retry_on_network_error, Precondition, ReadWriteError, WriteError,
-};
+use restate_core::metadata_store::{Precondition, ReadWriteError, WriteError};
 use restate_core::{Metadata, MetadataWriter, ShutdownError, TaskCenterFutureExt};
 use restate_types::errors::GenericError;
 use restate_types::identifiers::PartitionId;
@@ -930,26 +927,7 @@ pub struct LogsController {
 }
 
 impl LogsController {
-    pub async fn init(
-        configuration: &Configuration,
-        bifrost: Bifrost,
-        metadata_writer: MetadataWriter,
-    ) -> Result<Self> {
-        // obtain the latest logs or init it with an empty logs variant
-        let logs = retry_on_network_error(
-            configuration.common.network_error_retry_policy.clone(),
-            || {
-                metadata_writer
-                    .metadata_store_client()
-                    .get_or_insert(BIFROST_CONFIG_KEY.clone(), || {
-                        Logs::from_configuration(configuration)
-                    })
-            },
-        )
-        .await?;
-
-        metadata_writer.update(Arc::new(logs)).await?;
-
+    pub async fn init(bifrost: Bifrost, metadata_writer: MetadataWriter) -> Result<Self> {
         //todo(azmy): make configurable
         let retry_policy = RetryPolicy::exponential(
             Duration::from_millis(10),
diff --git a/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/service/state.rs b/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/service/state.rs
index 430ff8124..fada9e129 100644
--- a/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/service/state.rs
+++ b/crates/admin/src/cluster_controller/service/state.rs
@@ -158,12 +158,8 @@ where
         )
         .await?;
 
-        let logs_controller = LogsController::init(
-            &configuration,
-            service.bifrost.clone(),
-            service.metadata_writer.clone(),
-        )
-        .await?;
+        let logs_controller =
+            LogsController::init(service.bifrost.clone(), service.metadata_writer.clone()).await?;
 
         let (log_trim_interval, log_trim_threshold) =
             create_log_trim_interval(&configuration.admin);
diff --git a/crates/bifrost/src/bifrost_admin.rs b/crates/bifrost/src/bifrost_admin.rs
index ba0c09493..94d91503a 100644
--- a/crates/bifrost/src/bifrost_admin.rs
+++ b/crates/bifrost/src/bifrost_admin.rs
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ impl<'a> BifrostAdmin<'a> {
                 .metadata_writer
                 .metadata_store_client()
                 .get_or_insert(BIFROST_CONFIG_KEY.clone(), || {
+                    debug!("Attempting to initialize logs metadata in metadata store");
                     Logs::from_configuration(&Configuration::pinned())
                 })
         })
diff --git a/crates/bifrost/src/service.rs b/crates/bifrost/src/service.rs
index ec6718aa7..03059c774 100644
--- a/crates/bifrost/src/service.rs
+++ b/crates/bifrost/src/service.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use anyhow::Context;
 use enum_map::EnumMap;
 use tracing::{debug, error, trace};
 
@@ -81,11 +80,10 @@ impl BifrostService {
     ///
     /// This requires to run within a task_center context.
     pub async fn start(self) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        // Perform an initial metadata sync.
-        self.inner
-            .sync_metadata()
-            .await
-            .context("Initial bifrost metadata sync has failed!")?;
+        // Make sure we have v1 metadata written to metadata store with the default
+        // configuration. If metadata is already initialized, this will make sure we have the
+        // latest version set in metadata manager.
+        self.bifrost.admin().init_metadata().await?;
 
         // initialize all enabled providers.
         if self.factories.is_empty() {