diff --git a/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDao.java b/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDao.java
index cd968ff75a2..f19520e6a42 100644
--- a/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDao.java
+++ b/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDao.java
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /**
  *  Copyright (C) 2010 Cloud.com, Inc.  All rights reserved.
- * 
+ *
  * This software is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3 or later.
- * 
+ *
  * It is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version.
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@
  * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  * GNU General Public License for more details.
- * 
+ *
  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- * 
+ *
  */
 package com.cloud.host.dao;
 
@@ -21,22 +21,22 @@ import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import com.cloud.host.Host;
+import com.cloud.host.Host.Type;
 import com.cloud.host.HostVO;
 import com.cloud.host.Status;
-import com.cloud.host.Host.Type;
 import com.cloud.host.Status.Event;
 import com.cloud.info.RunningHostCountInfo;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.GenericDao;
 
 /**
  * Data Access Object for server
- * 
+ *
  */
 public interface HostDao extends GenericDao<HostVO, Long> {
     List<HostVO> listBy(Host.Type type, Long clusterId, Long podId, long dcId);
-    
+
     long countBy(long clusterId,  Status... statuses);
- 
+
     List<HostVO> listByDataCenter(long dcId);
 	List<HostVO> listByHostPod(long podId);
 	List<HostVO> listByStatus(Status... status);
@@ -48,27 +48,28 @@ public interface HostDao extends GenericDao<HostVO, Long> {
 	 * @return list of Hosts
 	 */
 	List<HostVO> listSecondaryStorageHosts();
-	
+
 	/**
 	 * Mark all hosts in Up or Orphaned state as disconnected.  This method
 	 * is used at AgentManager startup to reset all of the connections.
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param msId management server id.
      * @param statuses states of the host.
 	 */
 	void markHostsAsDisconnected(long msId, Status... states);
-	
+
 	List<HostVO> findLostHosts(long timeout);
-	
+
 	List<HostVO> findHostsLike(String hostName);
 
 	/**
 	 * Find hosts that are directly connected.
 	 */
 	List<HostVO> findDirectlyConnectedHosts();
-	
+
     List<HostVO> findDirectAgentToLoad(long msid, long lastPingSecondsAfter, Long limit);
-    boolean directConnect(HostVO host, long msId);
+
+    boolean directConnect(HostVO host, long msId, boolean secondConnect);
 
 	/**
 	 * Mark the host as disconnected if it is in one of these states.
@@ -76,16 +77,16 @@ public interface HostDao extends GenericDao<HostVO, Long> {
 	 * The lastPinged timestamp is set to current.
 	 * The state is set to the state passed in.
 	 * The disconnectedOn timestamp is set to current.
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param host host to be marked
 	 * @param state state to be set to.
 	 * @param ifStates only if it is one of these states.
 	 * @return true if it's updated; false if not.
 	 */
 	boolean disconnect(HostVO host, Event event, long msId);
-	
+
 	boolean connect(HostVO host, long msId);
-	
+
 	HostVO findByStorageIpAddressInDataCenter(long dcId, String privateIpAddress);
     HostVO findByPrivateIpAddressInDataCenter(long dcId, String privateIpAddress);
 
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ public interface HostDao extends GenericDao<HostVO, Long> {
 	 * @return HostVO or null if not found.
 	 */
 	public HostVO findByGuid(String macAddress);
-	
+
 
 	/**
 	 * find all hosts of a certain type in a data center
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ public interface HostDao extends GenericDao<HostVO, Long> {
 	 * @return
 	 */
 	List<HostVO> findLostHosts2(long timeout, Type type);
-	
+
 	/**
 	 * update the host and changes the status depending on the Event and
 	 * the current status.  If the status changed between
@@ -130,11 +131,11 @@ public interface HostDao extends GenericDao<HostVO, Long> {
 	 * @return true if updated; false if not.
 	 */
 	boolean updateStatus(HostVO host, Event event, long msId);
-	
+
     List<RunningHostCountInfo> getRunningHostCounts(Date cutTime);
-    
+
     long getNextSequence(long hostId);
-    
+
     void loadDetails(HostVO host);
 
     void loadHostTags(HostVO host);
diff --git a/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDaoImpl.java b/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDaoImpl.java
index 09a0828aee4..e82d611bc00 100644
--- a/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDaoImpl.java
+++ b/core/src/com/cloud/host/dao/HostDaoImpl.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import com.cloud.utils.db.Filter;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.GenericDaoBase;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.SearchBuilder;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.SearchCriteria;
+import com.cloud.utils.db.SearchCriteria.Op;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.Transaction;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.UpdateBuilder;
 
@@ -193,9 +194,11 @@ public class HostDaoImpl extends GenericDaoBase<HostVO, Long> implements HostDao
         UnmanagedDirectConnectSearch.done();
 
         DirectConnectSearch = createSearchBuilder();
-        DirectConnectSearch.and("server", DirectConnectSearch.entity().getManagementServerId(), SearchCriteria.Op.NULL);
         DirectConnectSearch.and("resource", DirectConnectSearch.entity().getResource(), SearchCriteria.Op.NNULL);
         DirectConnectSearch.and("id", DirectConnectSearch.entity().getId(), SearchCriteria.Op.EQ);
+        DirectConnectSearch.op(Op.AND, "nullserver", DirectConnectSearch.entity().getManagementServerId(), SearchCriteria.Op.NULL);
+        DirectConnectSearch.or("server", DirectConnectSearch.entity().getManagementServerId(), SearchCriteria.Op.EQ);
+        DirectConnectSearch.cp();
         DirectConnectSearch.done();
 
         _statusAttr = _allAttributes.get("status");
@@ -218,9 +221,12 @@ public class HostDaoImpl extends GenericDaoBase<HostVO, Long> implements HostDao
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean directConnect(HostVO host, long msId) {
+    public boolean directConnect(HostVO host, long msId, boolean secondConnect) {
         SearchCriteria sc = DirectConnectSearch.create();
         sc.setParameters("id", host.getId());
+        if (secondConnect) {
+            sc.setParameters("server", msId);
+        }
         host.setManagementServerId(msId);
         host.setLastPinged(System.currentTimeMillis() >> 10);
         UpdateBuilder ub = getUpdateBuilder(host);
diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/AgentManagerImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/AgentManagerImpl.java
index 5d9afb84448..5738a5ddf22 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/AgentManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/AgentManagerImpl.java
@@ -1230,17 +1230,23 @@ public class AgentManagerImpl implements AgentManager, HandlerFactory {
         HostVO host = null;
         if (id != null) {
             host = _hostDao.findById(id);
-            if (host.getManagementServerId() != null) {
+            if (!_hostDao.directConnect(host, _nodeId, false)) {
                 s_logger.info("MS " + host.getManagementServerId() + " is loading " + host);
                 return null;
             }
         }
         StartupCommand[] cmds = resource.initialize();
-		if (cmds == null)
-			return null;
+        if (cmds == null) {
+            s_logger.info("Unable to fully initialize the agent because no StartupCommands are returned");
+            if (id != null) {
+                _hostDao.updateStatus(host, Event.AgentDisconnected, _nodeId);
+            }
+        }
+
         if (host != null) {
-			if (!_hostDao.directConnect(host, _nodeId)) {
-				s_logger.info("Someone else is loading " + host);
+            if (!_hostDao.directConnect(host, _nodeId, true)) {
+                host = _hostDao.findById(id);
+                s_logger.info("MS " + host.getManagementServerId() + " is loading " + host + " after it has been initialized.");
 				resource.disconnected();
 				return null;
 			}