diff --git a/community/kernel/src/main/java/org/neo4j/kernel/impl/util/watcher/DefaultFileSystemWatcherService.java b/community/kernel/src/main/java/org/neo4j/kernel/impl/util/watcher/DefaultFileSystemWatcherService.java
index 7b9ca424a33e3..443f0ac688165 100644
--- a/community/kernel/src/main/java/org/neo4j/kernel/impl/util/watcher/DefaultFileSystemWatcherService.java
+++ b/community/kernel/src/main/java/org/neo4j/kernel/impl/util/watcher/DefaultFileSystemWatcherService.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ public void init() throws Throwable
     @Override
     public void start() throws Throwable
     {
+        assert watcher == null;
         watcher = fileWatchers.newThread( eventWatcher );
         watcher.start();
     }
diff --git a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabase.java b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabase.java
index d3f78312446c1..ffd79aef19386 100644
--- a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabase.java
+++ b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabase.java
@@ -88,11 +88,16 @@ public LocalDatabase( File storeDir, StoreFiles storeFiles, DataSourceManager da
     public void init() throws Throwable
     {
         dataSourceManager.init();
+        watcherService.init();
     }
 
     @Override
     public synchronized void start() throws Throwable
     {
+        if ( isAvailable() )
+        {
+            return;
+        }
         storeId = readStoreIdFromDisk();
         log.info( "Starting with storeId: " + storeId );
 
@@ -127,6 +132,7 @@ public boolean isAvailable()
     @Override
     public void shutdown() throws Throwable
     {
+        watcherService.shutdown();
         dataSourceManager.shutdown();
     }
 
diff --git a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/core/EnterpriseCoreEditionModule.java b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/core/EnterpriseCoreEditionModule.java
index a6df9bcfa2372..8d56975af3c77 100644
--- a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/core/EnterpriseCoreEditionModule.java
+++ b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/core/EnterpriseCoreEditionModule.java
@@ -169,7 +169,6 @@ public void registerEditionSpecificProcedures( Procedures procedures ) throws Ke
         watcherService = createFileSystemWatcherService( fileSystem, storeDir, logging,
                 platformModule.jobScheduler, fileWatcherFileNameFilter() );
         dependencies.satisfyDependencies( watcherService );
-        life.add( watcherService );
         LocalDatabase localDatabase = new LocalDatabase( platformModule.storeDir,
                 new StoreFiles( fileSystem, platformModule.pageCache ),
                 platformModule.dataSourceManager,
diff --git a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/readreplica/EnterpriseReadReplicaEditionModule.java b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/readreplica/EnterpriseReadReplicaEditionModule.java
index 1d1f9711b549a..7f7ae2d48ca47 100644
--- a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/readreplica/EnterpriseReadReplicaEditionModule.java
+++ b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/main/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/readreplica/EnterpriseReadReplicaEditionModule.java
@@ -130,7 +130,6 @@ public class EnterpriseReadReplicaEditionModule extends EditionModule
         watcherService = createFileSystemWatcherService( fileSystem, storeDir, logging,
                 platformModule.jobScheduler, fileWatcherFileNameFilter() );
         dependencies.satisfyDependencies( watcherService );
-        life.add( watcherService );
 
         GraphDatabaseFacade graphDatabaseFacade = platformModule.graphDatabaseFacade;
 
diff --git a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/test/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabaseTest.java b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/test/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabaseTest.java
index 2c14653a4ece5..ff7336e133750 100644
--- a/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/test/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabaseTest.java
+++ b/enterprise/causal-clustering/src/test/java/org/neo4j/causalclustering/catchup/storecopy/LocalDatabaseTest.java
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@
 import static org.mockito.Matchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.inOrder;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.reset;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 
 public class LocalDatabaseTest
 {
@@ -130,6 +132,27 @@ public void availabilityGuardRaisedBeforeDataSourceManagerIsStoppedForStoreCopy(
         inOrder.verify( dataSourceManager ).stop();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void doNotRestartServicesIfAlreadyStarted() throws Throwable
+    {
+        DataSourceManager dataSourceManager = mock( DataSourceManager.class );
+        FileSystemWatcherService watcherService = mock( FileSystemWatcherService.class );
+        LocalDatabase localDatabase = newLocalDatabase( newAvailabilityGuard(), dataSourceManager, watcherService );
+
+        localDatabase.start();
+
+        verify( dataSourceManager ).start();
+        verify( watcherService ).start();
+        reset( dataSourceManager );
+        reset( watcherService );
+
+        localDatabase.start();
+        localDatabase.start();
+
+        verify( dataSourceManager, times( 0 ) ).start();
+        verify( watcherService, times( 0 ) ).start();
+    }
+
     private static LocalDatabase newLocalDatabase( AvailabilityGuard availabilityGuard )
     {
         return newLocalDatabase( availabilityGuard, mock( DataSourceManager.class ) );
@@ -137,9 +160,15 @@ private static LocalDatabase newLocalDatabase( AvailabilityGuard availabilityGua
 
     private static LocalDatabase newLocalDatabase( AvailabilityGuard availabilityGuard,
             DataSourceManager dataSourceManager )
+    {
+        return newLocalDatabase( availabilityGuard, dataSourceManager, FileSystemWatcherService.EMPTY_WATCHER );
+    }
+
+    private static LocalDatabase newLocalDatabase( AvailabilityGuard availabilityGuard,
+            DataSourceManager dataSourceManager, FileSystemWatcherService fileWatcher )
     {
         return new LocalDatabase( new File( "." ), mock( StoreFiles.class ), dataSourceManager,
-                () -> mock( DatabaseHealth.class ), FileSystemWatcherService.EMPTY_WATCHER, availabilityGuard,
+                () -> mock( DatabaseHealth.class ), fileWatcher, availabilityGuard,
                 NullLogProvider.getInstance() );
     }