diff --git a/workers/worker.py b/workers/worker.py
index ac30fb5cf..a9ea5d219 100644
--- a/workers/worker.py
+++ b/workers/worker.py
@@ -53,8 +53,21 @@ class Worker(object):
 
     self._operations.append((_operation_func, operation_sec))
 
+  def _setup_and_wait_for_shutdown(self):
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, self.terminate)
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, self.terminate)
+
+    while not self._stop.wait(1):
+      pass
+
   def start(self):
     logging.config.fileConfig('conf/logging.conf', disable_existing_loggers=False)
+
+    if not app.config.get('SETUP_COMPLETE', False):
+      logger.info('Product setup is not yet complete; skipping worker startup')
+      self._setup_and_wait_for_shutdown()
+      return
+
     logger.debug('Scheduling worker.')
 
     soon = datetime.now() + timedelta(seconds=.001)
@@ -64,11 +77,8 @@ class Worker(object):
       self._sched.add_job(operation_func, 'interval', seconds=operation_sec,
                           start_date=soon, max_instances=1)
 
-    signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, self.terminate)
-    signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, self.terminate)
 
-    while not self._stop.wait(1):
-      pass
+    self._setup_and_wait_for_shutdown()
 
     logger.debug('Waiting for running tasks to complete.')
     self._sched.shutdown()