diff --git a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc
index 15ffd34827..fdc1487606 100644
--- a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc
+++ b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.cc
@@ -144,6 +144,15 @@ std::unique_ptr<nlohmann::json> LBDataHolder::rankAttributesToJson() const {
   return std::make_unique<nlohmann::json>(std::move(j));
 }
 
+void LBDataHolder::addInitialTask(nlohmann::json& j, std::size_t n) const {
+  j["tasks"][n]["resource"] = "cpu";
+  j["tasks"][n]["node"] = vt::theContext()->getNode();
+  j["tasks"][n]["time"] = 0;
+  outputEntity(
+    j["tasks"][n]["entity"], ElementIDStruct()
+  );
+}
+
 std::unique_ptr<nlohmann::json> LBDataHolder::toJson(PhaseType phase) const {
   using json = nlohmann::json;
 
@@ -194,6 +203,10 @@ std::unique_ptr<nlohmann::json> LBDataHolder::toJson(PhaseType phase) const {
 
       i++;
     }
+
+    if ((phase == 0) and (i > 0)) {
+      addInitialTask(j, i);
+    }
   }
 
   i = 0;
diff --git a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h
index 39af9eded7..a3badad166 100644
--- a/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h
+++ b/src/vt/vrt/collection/balance/lb_data_holder.h
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ struct LBDataHolder {
    */
   void outputEntity(nlohmann::json& j, ElementIDStruct const& elm_id) const;
 
+  void addInitialTask(nlohmann::json& j, std::size_t n) const;
+
   /**
    * \brief Read the LB phase's metadata
    *
diff --git a/tests/unit/collection/test_lb.extended.cc b/tests/unit/collection/test_lb.extended.cc
index a865ef5113..2c6379cc38 100644
--- a/tests/unit/collection/test_lb.extended.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/collection/test_lb.extended.cc
@@ -438,6 +438,10 @@ TEST_P(TestNodeLBDataDumper, test_node_lb_data_dumping_with_interval) {
       EXPECT_EQ(phase["user_defined"]["new_time"], static_cast<double>(phase["id"]));
     }
 
+    auto num_tasks = json["phases"][0]["tasks"].size();
+    auto entity = json["phases"][0]["tasks"][num_tasks - 1]["entity"];
+    EXPECT_EQ(entity["home"], 0);
+    EXPECT_EQ(entity["id"], 0);
   });
 
   if (vt::theContext()->getNode() == 0) {
@@ -615,6 +619,10 @@ TEST_F(TestRestoreLBData, test_restore_lb_data_data_1) {
         auto &orig_load_map = phase_data.second;
         for (auto &entry : read_load_map) {
           auto read_elm_id = entry.first;
+          if ((read_elm_id.id == vt::elm::no_element_id)
+              and (read_elm_id.getHomeNode() == 0)) {
+            continue;
+          }
           EXPECT_FALSE(orig_load_map.find(read_elm_id) == orig_load_map.end());
           if (orig_load_map.find(read_elm_id) == orig_load_map.end()) {
             fmt::print(