diff --git a/artemis-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/server/impl/SharedStoreLiveActivation.java b/artemis-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/server/impl/SharedStoreLiveActivation.java
index 485ae166f9..52e656fc15 100644
--- a/artemis-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/server/impl/SharedStoreLiveActivation.java
+++ b/artemis-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/server/impl/SharedStoreLiveActivation.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.impl;
 import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.ActiveMQServerLogger;
 import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.NodeManager;
 import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.cluster.ha.SharedStoreMasterPolicy;
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.cluster.ha.SharedStoreSlavePolicy;
 import org.jboss.logging.Logger;
 
 public final class SharedStoreLiveActivation extends LiveActivation {
@@ -38,6 +39,19 @@ public final class SharedStoreLiveActivation extends LiveActivation {
    @Override
    public void run() {
       try {
+         if (activeMQServer.getNodeManager().isBackupLive()) {
+            /*
+             * looks like there is already a live server running and we should start as backup server
+             * so when the current live goes down they failover to us
+             */
+            if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+               logger.debug("announcing backup to the former live " + this);
+            }
+
+            activeMQServer.setHAPolicy(new SharedStoreSlavePolicy(sharedStoreMasterPolicy.isFailoverOnServerShutdown(), false, false, null));
+            return;
+         }
+
          ActiveMQServerLogger.LOGGER.awaitingLiveLock();
 
          activeMQServer.checkJournalDirectory();
@@ -49,18 +63,6 @@ public final class SharedStoreLiveActivation extends LiveActivation {
          if (!activeMQServer.initialisePart1(false))
             return;
 
-         if (activeMQServer.getNodeManager().isBackupLive()) {
-            /*
-             * looks like we've failed over at some point need to inform that we are the backup
-             * so when the current live goes down they failover to us
-             */
-            if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
-               logger.debug("announcing backup to the former live" + this);
-            }
-            activeMQServer.getBackupManager().start();
-            activeMQServer.getBackupManager().announceBackup();
-         }
-
          activeMQServer.registerActivateCallback(activeMQServer.getNodeManager().startLiveNode());
 
          if (activeMQServer.getState() == ActiveMQServerImpl.SERVER_STATE.STOPPED || activeMQServer.getState() == ActiveMQServerImpl.SERVER_STATE.STOPPING) {
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/SharedStoreLiveStartsAsBackupTest.java b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/SharedStoreLiveStartsAsBackupTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..24bdff3ded
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/SharedStoreLiveStartsAsBackupTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.activemq.artemis.tests.integration.cluster.failover;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.config.Configuration;
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.config.ha.SharedStoreMasterPolicyConfiguration;
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.ActiveMQServer;
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.cluster.impl.MessageLoadBalancingType;
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.tests.integration.cluster.distribution.ClusterTestBase;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class SharedStoreLiveStartsAsBackupTest extends ClusterTestBase {
+
+   @Override
+   @Before
+   public void setUp() throws Exception {
+      super.setUp();
+
+      setupServers();
+   }
+
+   private void setupServers() throws Exception {
+      // Two live servers with same shared storage, using a shared lock file
+
+      // 1. configure 0 as backup of one to share the same node manager and file
+      // storage locations
+      setupBackupServer(0, 1, isFileStorage(), true, isNetty());
+      setupLiveServer(1, isFileStorage(), true, isNetty(), false);
+
+      // now reconfigure the HA policy for both servers to master with automatic
+      // failover
+      setupSharedStoreMasterPolicy(0);
+      setupSharedStoreMasterPolicy(1);
+
+      // configure cluster for bother servers
+      setupClusterConnection("cluster", "queues", MessageLoadBalancingType.ON_DEMAND, 1, isNetty(), 0, 1);
+      setupClusterConnection("cluster", "queues", MessageLoadBalancingType.ON_DEMAND, 1, isNetty(), 1, 0);
+   }
+
+   private void setupSharedStoreMasterPolicy(int node) {
+      ActiveMQServer server = getServer(node);
+      SharedStoreMasterPolicyConfiguration liveConfiguration = new SharedStoreMasterPolicyConfiguration();
+      liveConfiguration.setFailoverOnServerShutdown(true);
+
+      Configuration config = server.getConfiguration();
+
+      config.setHAPolicyConfiguration(liveConfiguration);
+   }
+
+   private boolean isNetty() {
+      return true;
+   }
+
+   @Test
+   public void startupLiveAndBackups() throws Exception {
+      // startup 2 live server -> 2nd becomes backup of first
+      startServers(0, 1);
+
+      setupSessionFactory(0, isNetty());
+
+      createQueue(0, "queues.testaddress", "queue0", null, false);
+
+      ActiveMQServer server0 = getServer(0);
+      ActiveMQServer server1 = getServer(1);
+
+      // server 0 is live
+      assertTrue(server0.waitForActivation(0, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+      // server 1 is backup
+      assertFalse(server1.waitForActivation(0, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+
+      server0.stop();
+      // now server 1 becomes live
+      assertTrue(server1.waitForActivation(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+
+      server0.start();
+      // after restart, server 0 becomes backup
+      assertFalse(server0.waitForActivation(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+
+      server1.stop();
+      // now server 0 becomes live again
+      assertTrue(server0.waitForActivation(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+
+      server1.start();
+      // after restart, server 1 becomes backup again
+      assertFalse(server1.waitForActivation(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+   }
+}