diff --git a/packages/realm-server/handlers/create-realm.ts b/packages/realm-server/handlers/create-realm.ts
index 6d985d340e..7e9e5f7f42 100644
--- a/packages/realm-server/handlers/create-realm.ts
+++ b/packages/realm-server/handlers/create-realm.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { ensureDirSync, writeJSONSync } from 'fs-extra';
 import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';
 import type {
   DBAdapter,
-  QueuePublisher,
   Realm,
   RealmInfo,
   VirtualNetwork,
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ import {
   SupportedMimeType,
   userInitiatedPriority,
 } from '@cardstack/runtime-common';
-import { enqueueReindexRealmJob } from '@cardstack/runtime-common/jobs/reindex-realm';
 import { getMatrixUsername } from '@cardstack/runtime-common/matrix-client';
 import { insertSourceRealmInRegistry } from '../lib/realm-registry-writes';
 import type { RealmRegistryReconciler } from '../lib/realm-registry-reconciler';
@@ -37,7 +35,6 @@ export type CreateRealmDeps = {
   serverURL: URL;
   realms: Realm[];
   dbAdapter: DBAdapter;
-  queue: QueuePublisher;
   virtualNetwork: VirtualNetwork;
   realmsRootPath: string;
   reconciler: RealmRegistryReconciler;
@@ -78,7 +75,6 @@ export async function createRealm(
     serverURL,
     realms,
     dbAdapter,
-    queue,
     virtualNetwork,
     realmsRootPath,
     reconciler,
@@ -219,30 +215,25 @@ export async function createRealm(
     virtualNetwork.addURLMapping(new URL(url), actualRealmURL);
   }
 
-  // Phase 3: enqueue the from-scratch-index job at userInitiatedPriority
-  // so the canonical (post-coalesce) job carries that priority — even
-  // if reconciler.lookupOrMount below also enqueues one at the default
-  // systemInitiatedPriority via realm.start(). The chooseFromScratch
-  // coalesce JOINs same-realm jobs and keeps maxPriority.
-  await enqueueReindexRealmJob(
-    url,
-    ownerUsername,
-    queue,
-    dbAdapter,
-    userInitiatedPriority,
-  );
-
-  // Synchronously mount + start the realm on the *handling* instance.
+  // Mount the realm on the *handling* instance and let the mount
+  // pipeline itself drive the one-and-only from-scratch-index, at
+  // userInitiatedPriority so a backed-up queue of system-priority
+  // jobs (e.g. a deploy-triggered reindex storm) does not stall realm
+  // creation. lookupOrMount → ensureMounted → realm.start → #startup
+  // sees `isNewIndex = true` for a freshly-registered realm and
+  // enqueues exactly one job via publishFullIndex, which also updates
+  // the realm's in-memory #stats / #ignoreData / #ignoreDataVersion
+  // when the job completes.
+  //
   // The 202 response with status:'pending' is for sibling instances —
   // they pick up the realm via NOTIFY realm_registry and lazy-mount
-  // on first request. On this instance the realm is fully ready by
-  // the time we return: ensureMounted publishes into realms[] /
-  // virtualNetwork via prepareRealmFromRow and awaits realm.start(),
-  // which awaits the from-scratch-index job. Mounting eagerly here
-  // also drains the queue locally so the test framework's teardown
-  // (close server → drain runner → close DB) doesn't race a worker
-  // mid-fetch on the now-closed HTTP listener.
-  let realm = await reconciler.lookupOrMount(url);
+  // on first request. Mounting eagerly here also drains the queue
+  // locally so the test framework's teardown (close server → drain
+  // runner → close DB) doesn't race a worker mid-fetch on the now-
+  // closed HTTP listener.
+  let realm = await reconciler.lookupOrMount(url, {
+    fromScratchIndexPriority: userInitiatedPriority,
+  });
   if (!realm) {
     throw new Error(
       `expected realm ${url} to be mounted after createRealm — registry row missing or mount failed`,
diff --git a/packages/realm-server/lib/realm-registry-reconciler.ts b/packages/realm-server/lib/realm-registry-reconciler.ts
index 96ca413dd4..a2e828fcd0 100644
--- a/packages/realm-server/lib/realm-registry-reconciler.ts
+++ b/packages/realm-server/lib/realm-registry-reconciler.ts
@@ -291,7 +291,10 @@ export class RealmRegistryReconciler {
   // would receive a not-yet-started Realm; routing it through the
   // in-flight promise instead lets the caller await start() like the
   // original requester.
-  async lookupOrMount(url: string): Promise<Realm | undefined> {
+  async lookupOrMount(
+    url: string,
+    opts?: { fromScratchIndexPriority?: number },
+  ): Promise<Realm | undefined> {
     const inflight = this.pendingMounts.get(url);
     if (inflight) {
       return inflight;
@@ -308,7 +311,7 @@ export class RealmRegistryReconciler {
       }
       this.knownByUrl.set(url, row);
     }
-    return this.ensureMounted(row);
+    return this.ensureMounted(row, opts);
   }
 
   async #lookupRow(url: string): Promise<RealmRegistryRow | undefined> {
@@ -347,7 +350,10 @@ export class RealmRegistryReconciler {
   // rollout safety relies on this signal — Loki/Grafana extract cold-
   // mount latency, mount failure rate, and pinned-vs-lazy ratios from
   // these lines.
-  async ensureMounted(row: RealmRegistryRow): Promise<Realm> {
+  async ensureMounted(
+    row: RealmRegistryRow,
+    opts?: { fromScratchIndexPriority?: number },
+  ): Promise<Realm> {
     // pendingMounts checked before mounted: see lookupOrMount() above.
     // The Realm is published into mounted synchronously before its
     // start() promise resolves, so a caller hitting the mounted
@@ -386,7 +392,7 @@ export class RealmRegistryReconciler {
     this.#reconcilerOwned.add(row.url);
     const promise = (async () => {
       try {
-        await realm.start();
+        await realm.start(opts);
         log.info(
           `mount ok url=%s kind=%s pinned=%s duration_ms=%d`,
           row.url,
diff --git a/packages/realm-server/routes.ts b/packages/realm-server/routes.ts
index 44bc4ee2f0..f3bd90c471 100644
--- a/packages/realm-server/routes.ts
+++ b/packages/realm-server/routes.ts
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ export function createRoutes(args: CreateRoutesArgs) {
     serverURL: new URL(args.serverURL),
     realms: args.realms,
     dbAdapter: args.dbAdapter,
-    queue: args.queue,
     virtualNetwork: args.virtualNetwork,
     realmsRootPath: args.realmsRootPath,
     reconciler: args.reconciler,
diff --git a/packages/realm-server/tests/server-endpoints/realm-lifecycle-test.ts b/packages/realm-server/tests/server-endpoints/realm-lifecycle-test.ts
index 5acebfb65e..cb23e4c6d7 100644
--- a/packages/realm-server/tests/server-endpoints/realm-lifecycle-test.ts
+++ b/packages/realm-server/tests/server-endpoints/realm-lifecycle-test.ts
@@ -133,13 +133,14 @@ module(`server-endpoints/${basename(__filename)}`, function () {
         let jobs = (await context.dbAdapter.execute(
           `SELECT priority FROM jobs WHERE job_type = 'from-scratch-index' AND args->>'realmURL' = '${json.data.id}'`,
         )) as { priority: number }[];
-        assert.ok(
-          jobs.length > 0,
-          'found from-scratch index job for created realm',
-        );
-        assert.ok(
-          jobs.some((j) => j.priority === userInitiatedPriority),
-          'user initiated realm indexing uses high priority queue',
+        // Contract: realm creation enqueues exactly one
+        // from-scratch-index job, at userInitiatedPriority. A second
+        // job at default priority would block creation behind any
+        // backlog of lower-priority indexing work.
+        assert.deepEqual(
+          jobs.map((j) => j.priority),
+          [userInitiatedPriority],
+          'realm creation enqueues exactly one from-scratch index job at userInitiatedPriority',
         );
 
         let permissions = await fetchRealmPermissions(
diff --git a/packages/runtime-common/realm.ts b/packages/runtime-common/realm.ts
index d04568faaf..e6e024128d 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-common/realm.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-common/realm.ts
@@ -1296,8 +1296,14 @@ export class Realm {
     });
   }
 
-  async start() {
-    this.#startedUp.fulfill((() => this.#startup())());
+  // `fromScratchIndexPriority` overrides the realm's default priority
+  // for the from-scratch-index job that `#startup` enqueues when the
+  // realm has no prior index. Callers that mount-on-demand for a
+  // user-initiated flow (e.g. realm creation) pass
+  // `userInitiatedPriority` so the resulting job jumps ahead of any
+  // backlog of system-priority indexing work.
+  async start(opts?: { fromScratchIndexPriority?: number }) {
+    this.#startedUp.fulfill((() => this.#startup(opts))());
 
     if (this.#adapter.fileWatcherEnabled) {
       await this.startFileWatcher();
@@ -2174,7 +2180,7 @@ export class Realm {
     await completed;
   }
 
-  async #startup() {
+  async #startup(opts?: { fromScratchIndexPriority?: number }) {
     await Promise.resolve();
     let startTime = Date.now();
     if (this.#copiedFromRealm) {
@@ -2188,9 +2194,9 @@ export class Realm {
     } else {
       let isNewIndex = await this.#realmIndexUpdater.isNewIndex();
       if (isNewIndex || this.#fullIndexOnStartup) {
-        let promise = this.#realmIndexUpdater.fullIndex(
-          this.#fromScratchIndexPriority,
-        );
+        let priority =
+          opts?.fromScratchIndexPriority ?? this.#fromScratchIndexPriority;
+        let promise = this.#realmIndexUpdater.fullIndex(priority);
         if (isNewIndex) {
           // we only await the full indexing at boot if this is a brand new index
           await promise;