diff --git a/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/bootstrap.yml b/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/bootstrap.yml
index c5a4ea6..800e317 100644
--- a/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/bootstrap.yml
+++ b/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/bootstrap.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 - name: initialize a fresh PVC cluster
   command: pvc -c local task init -y
 
+- name: wait 5s for cluster to stabilize
+  pause:
+    seconds: 5
+
 - name: stop the API daemon
   service:
     name: pvcapid.service
diff --git a/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/main.yml b/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/main.yml
index 5ad1c50..f4bb22e 100644
--- a/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/main.yml
+++ b/roles/pvc/tasks/pvc/main.yml
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 - name: enable daemon services but don't start them
   service:
     name: "{{ item }}"
+    state: stopped
     enabled: yes
   with_items:
     - pvc-flush.service
diff --git a/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/bootstrap.yml b/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/bootstrap.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..239e607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/bootstrap.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+- name: restart Zookeeper on all nodes
+  service:
+    name: zookeeper
+    state: restarted
+
+- name: wait 10s for cluster to stabilize
+  pause:
+    seconds: 10
+
+- name: ensure Zookeeper is running on node1
+  shell: echo "ls /" | /usr/share/zookeeper/bin/zkCli.sh
+  when: ansible_local.host_id == 1
diff --git a/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/main.yml b/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/main.yml
index 7acc93d..bd13a9e 100644
--- a/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/main.yml
+++ b/roles/pvc/tasks/zookeeper/main.yml
@@ -42,4 +42,7 @@
   with_items:
     - zookeeper
 
+- include: zookeeper/bootstrap.yml
+  when: bootstrap is defined and bootstrap
+
 - meta: flush_handlers