diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java
index 749b558329a..ff8048c2477 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/ZooKeeperServer.java
@@ -706,19 +706,6 @@ public void startdata() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     }
 
     public synchronized void startup() {
-        startupWithServerState(State.RUNNING);
-    }
-
-    public synchronized void startupWithoutServing() {
-        startupWithServerState(State.INITIAL);
-    }
-
-    public synchronized void startServing() {
-        setState(State.RUNNING);
-        notifyAll();
-    }
-
-    private void startupWithServerState(State state) {
         if (sessionTracker == null) {
             createSessionTracker();
         }
@@ -733,7 +720,7 @@ private void startupWithServerState(State state) {
 
         registerMetrics();
 
-        setState(state);
+        setState(State.RUNNING);
 
         requestPathMetricsCollector.start();
 
diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/Learner.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/Learner.java
index b9faa21652d..b146d333878 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/Learner.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/quorum/Learner.java
@@ -557,6 +557,7 @@ protected void syncWithLeader(long newLeaderZxid) throws Exception {
         Deque<Long> packetsCommitted = new ArrayDeque<>();
         Deque<PacketInFlight> packetsNotLogged = new ArrayDeque<>();
         Deque<PacketInFlight> packetsNotCommitted = new ArrayDeque<>();
+        long lastPreemptivelyLoggedZxid = -1;
         synchronized (zk) {
             if (qp.getType() == Leader.DIFF) {
                 LOG.info("Getting a diff from the leader 0x{}", Long.toHexString(qp.getZxid()));
@@ -755,15 +756,12 @@ protected void syncWithLeader(long newLeaderZxid) throws Exception {
                     isPreZAB1_0 = false;
 
                     // ZOOKEEPER-3911: make sure sync the uncommitted logs before commit them (ACK NEWLEADER).
-                    sock.setSoTimeout(self.tickTime * self.syncLimit);
-                    self.setSyncMode(QuorumPeer.SyncMode.NONE);
-                    zk.startupWithoutServing();
                     if (zk instanceof FollowerZooKeeperServer) {
-                        FollowerZooKeeperServer fzk = (FollowerZooKeeperServer) zk;
                         for (PacketInFlight p : packetsNotLogged) {
-                            fzk.logRequest(p.hdr, p.rec, p.digest);
+                            zk.getZKDatabase().append(new Request(-1, -1, p.hdr.getType(), p.hdr, p.rec, p.hdr.getZxid()));
+                            lastPreemptivelyLoggedZxid  = p.hdr.getZxid();
                         }
-                        packetsNotLogged.clear();
+                        zk.getZKDatabase().commit(); // Really ensure transactions are written to persistent storage before ACK'ing.
                     }
 
                     writePacket(new QuorumPacket(Leader.ACK, newLeaderZxid, null, null), true);
@@ -773,7 +771,10 @@ protected void syncWithLeader(long newLeaderZxid) throws Exception {
         }
         ack.setZxid(ZxidUtils.makeZxid(newEpoch, 0));
         writePacket(ack, true);
-        zk.startServing();
+        sock.setSoTimeout(self.tickTime * self.syncLimit);
+        self.setSyncMode(QuorumPeer.SyncMode.NONE);
+        zk.startup();
+
         /*
          * Update the election vote here to ensure that all members of the
          * ensemble report the same vote to new servers that start up and
@@ -787,7 +788,11 @@ protected void syncWithLeader(long newLeaderZxid) throws Exception {
         if (zk instanceof FollowerZooKeeperServer) {
             FollowerZooKeeperServer fzk = (FollowerZooKeeperServer) zk;
             for (PacketInFlight p : packetsNotLogged) {
-                fzk.logRequest(p.hdr, p.rec, p.digest);
+                if (p.hdr.getZxid() <= lastPreemptivelyLoggedZxid) {
+                    fzk.getZKDatabase().processTxn(p.hdr, p.rec, p.digest);
+                } else {
+                    fzk.logRequest(p.hdr, p.rec, p.digest);
+                }
             }
             for (Long zxid : packetsCommitted) {
                 fzk.commit(zxid);