diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.h b/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.h
index f6b9f27f0713..4f462696b747 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.h
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.h
@@ -61,8 +61,10 @@ static inline void bch2_wake_allocator(struct bch_dev *ca)
 
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	p = rcu_dereference(ca->alloc_thread);
-	if (p)
+	if (p) {
 		wake_up_process(p);
+		ca->allocator_state = ALLOCATOR_RUNNING;
+	}
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 }
 
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/super.c b/fs/bcachefs/super.c
index 988c678de9fc..85ba96cb2292 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/super.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/super.c
@@ -888,6 +888,13 @@ int bch2_fs_start(struct bch_fs *c)
 
 	set_bit(BCH_FS_STARTED, &c->flags);
 
+	/*
+	 * Allocator threads don't start filling copygc reserve until after we
+	 * set BCH_FS_STARTED - wake them now:
+	 */
+	for_each_online_member(ca, c, i)
+		bch2_wake_allocator(ca);
+
 	if (c->opts.read_only || c->opts.nochanges) {
 		bch2_fs_read_only(c);
 	} else {