diff --git a/lib/discourse_redis.rb b/lib/discourse_redis.rb
index f3f4993c819..9ed43c4e3a9 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_redis.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_redis.rb
@@ -14,18 +14,20 @@ class DiscourseRedis
       @running = false
       @mutex = Mutex.new
       @slave_config = DiscourseRedis.slave_config
+      @timer_task = init_timer_task
     end
 
     def verify_master
       synchronize do
-        return if @running || recently_checked?
-        @running = true
+        return if @timer_task.running?
       end
 
-      Thread.new { initiate_fallback_to_master }
+      @timer_task.execute
     end
 
     def initiate_fallback_to_master
+      success = false
+
       begin
         slave_client = ::Redis::Client.new(@slave_config)
         logger.info "#{log_prefix}: Checking connection to master server..."
@@ -39,13 +41,14 @@ class DiscourseRedis
 
           Discourse.clear_readonly!
           Discourse.request_refresh!
-          @master = true
+          self.master = true
+          success = true
         end
       ensure
-        @running = false
-        @last_checked = Time.zone.now
         slave_client.disconnect
       end
+
+      success
     end
 
     def master
@@ -56,23 +59,18 @@ class DiscourseRedis
       synchronize { @master = args }
     end
 
-    def recently_checked?
-      if @last_checked
-        Time.zone.now <= (@last_checked + 5.seconds)
-      else
-        false
-      end
-    end
-
-    # Used for testing
-    def reset!
-      @master = true
-      @last_checked = nil
-      @running = false
+    def running?
+      synchronize { @timer_task.running? }
     end
 
     private
 
+    def init_timer_task
+      Concurrent::TimerTask.new(execution_interval: 10) do |task|
+        task.shutdown if initiate_fallback_to_master
+      end
+    end
+
     def synchronize
       @mutex.synchronize { yield }
     end
@@ -87,9 +85,6 @@ class DiscourseRedis
   end
 
   class Connector < Redis::Client::Connector
-    MASTER = 'master'.freeze
-    SLAVE = 'slave'.freeze
-
     def initialize(options)
       super(options)
       @slave_options = DiscourseRedis.slave_config(options)
@@ -97,21 +92,18 @@ class DiscourseRedis
     end
 
     def resolve
-
-      return @options unless @slave_options[:host]
+      return @slave_options if !@fallback_handler.master
 
       begin
         options = @options.dup
         options.delete(:connector)
-        client = ::Redis::Client.new(options)
-        client.call([:role])[0]
-        @options
+        client = Redis::Client.new(options)
+        loading = client.call([:info]).split("\r\n").include?("loading:1")
+        loading ? @slave_options : @options
       rescue Redis::ConnectionError, Redis::CannotConnectError, RuntimeError => ex
-        # A consul service name may be deregistered for a redis container setup
         raise ex if ex.class == RuntimeError && ex.message != "Name or service not known"
-
-        return @slave_options if !@fallback_handler.master
         @fallback_handler.master = false
+        @fallback_handler.verify_master unless @fallback_handler.running?
         raise ex
       ensure
         client.disconnect
diff --git a/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb b/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb
index 0535d8fc376..8cc8c76d47f 100644
--- a/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe DiscourseRedis do
 
     it 'should return the slave config when master is down' do
       begin
-        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).raises(Redis::CannotConnectError).twice
+        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).raises(Redis::CannotConnectError).once
         expect { connector.resolve }.to raise_error(Redis::CannotConnectError)
 
         config = connector.resolve
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ describe DiscourseRedis do
       begin
         error = RuntimeError.new('Name or service not known')
 
-        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).raises(error).twice
+        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).raises(error).once
         expect { connector.resolve }.to raise_error(error)
 
         config = connector.resolve
@@ -70,6 +70,18 @@ describe DiscourseRedis do
       end
     end
 
+    it "should return the slave config when master is still loading data" do
+      begin
+        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:info]).returns("someconfig:haha\r\nloading:1")
+        config = connector.resolve
+
+        expect(config[:host]).to eq(slave_host)
+        expect(config[:port]).to eq(slave_port)
+      ensure
+        fallback_handler.master = true
+      end
+    end
+
     it "should raise the right error" do
       error = RuntimeError.new('test error')
       Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).raises(error).twice
@@ -79,34 +91,27 @@ describe DiscourseRedis do
 
   describe DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler do
     after do
-      fallback_handler.reset!
+      fallback_handler.master = true
     end
 
     describe '#initiate_fallback_to_master' do
-      it 'should fallback to the master server once it is up' do
-        begin
-          fallback_handler.master = false
-          Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:info]).returns(DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler::MASTER_LINK_STATUS)
-
-          DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler::CONNECTION_TYPES.each do |connection_type|
-            Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:client, [:kill, 'type', connection_type]])
-          end
-
-          fallback_handler.initiate_fallback_to_master
-
-          expect(fallback_handler.master).to eq(true)
-          expect(Discourse.recently_readonly?).to eq(false)
-        ensure
-          fallback_handler.master = true
-        end
+      it 'should return the right value if the master server is still down' do
+        fallback_handler.master = false
+        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:info]).returns("Some other stuff")
+        expect(fallback_handler.initiate_fallback_to_master).to eq(false)
       end
 
-      it "should restrict the number of checks" do
-        expect { fallback_handler.verify_master }.to change { Thread.list.count }.by(1)
-        expect(fallback_handler.master).to eq(true)
-
+      it 'should fallback to the master server once it is up' do
         fallback_handler.master = false
-        expect { fallback_handler.verify_master }.to_not change { Thread.list.count }
+        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:info]).returns(DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler::MASTER_LINK_STATUS)
+
+        DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler::CONNECTION_TYPES.each do |connection_type|
+          Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:client, [:kill, 'type', connection_type]])
+        end
+
+        expect(fallback_handler.initiate_fallback_to_master).to eq(true)
+        expect(fallback_handler.master).to eq(true)
+        expect(Discourse.recently_readonly?).to eq(false)
       end
     end
   end