diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/processor.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/processor.go
index bc1f835116ed..4d67c0e2436f 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/processor.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/processor.go
@@ -247,6 +247,13 @@ func (p *Processor) run(
 				log.Fatalf(ctx, "registration %s not in Processor's key range %v", r, p.Span)
 			}
 
+			// Construct the catchupIter before notifying the registration that it
+			// has been registered.
+			if r.catchupIterConstructor != nil {
+				r.catchupIter = r.catchupIterConstructor()
+				r.catchupIterConstructor = nil
+			}
+
 			// Add the new registration to the registry.
 			p.reg.Register(&r)
 
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/registry.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/registry.go
index db5c710f8c4e..7f9b73a1c31c 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/registry.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/rangefeed/registry.go
@@ -53,11 +53,22 @@ type Stream interface {
 // has finished.
 type registration struct {
 	// Input.
-	span                   roachpb.Span
-	catchupTimestamp       hlc.Timestamp
+	span             roachpb.Span
+	catchupTimestamp hlc.Timestamp
+	withDiff         bool
+	metrics          *Metrics
+
+	// catchupIterConstructor is used to construct the catchupIter if necessary.
+	// The reason this constructor is plumbed down is to make sure that the
+	// iterator does not get constructed too late in server shutdown. However,
+	// it must also be stored in the struct to ensure that it is not constructed
+	// too late, after the raftMu has been dropped. Thus, this function, if
+	// non-nil, will be used to populated catchupIter while the registration
+	// is being registered by the processor.
 	catchupIterConstructor func() storage.SimpleMVCCIterator
-	withDiff               bool
-	metrics                *Metrics
+	// catchupIter is populated on the Processor's goroutine while the
+	// Replica.raftMu is still held.
+	catchupIter storage.SimpleMVCCIterator
 
 	// Output.
 	stream Stream
@@ -285,11 +296,10 @@ func (r *registration) runOutputLoop(ctx context.Context, _forStacks roachpb.Ran
 // If the registration does not have a catchUpIteratorConstructor, this method
 // is a no-op.
 func (r *registration) maybeRunCatchupScan() error {
-	if r.catchupIterConstructor == nil {
+	if r.catchupIter == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
-	catchupIter := r.catchupIterConstructor()
-	r.catchupIterConstructor = nil
+	catchupIter := r.catchupIter
 	start := timeutil.Now()
 	defer func() {
 		catchupIter.Close()
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_rangefeed.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_rangefeed.go
index 85b9f6ac4beb..107346c096a8 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_rangefeed.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_rangefeed.go
@@ -225,7 +225,9 @@ func (r *Replica) rangeFeedWithRangeID(
 	var catchUpIterFunc rangefeed.IteratorConstructor
 	if usingCatchupIter {
 		catchUpIterFunc = func() storage.SimpleMVCCIterator {
-
+			// Assert that we still hold the raftMu when this is called to ensure
+			// that the catchUpIter reads from the current snapshot.
+			r.raftMu.AssertHeld()
 			innerIter := r.Engine().NewMVCCIterator(storage.MVCCKeyAndIntentsIterKind, storage.IterOptions{
 				UpperBound: args.Span.EndKey,
 				// RangeFeed originally intended to use the time-bound iterator
@@ -373,6 +375,11 @@ func (r *Replica) registerWithRangefeedRaftMuLocked(
 
 	// Start it with an iterator to initialize the resolved timestamp.
 	rtsIter := func() storage.SimpleMVCCIterator {
+		// Assert that we still hold the raftMu when this is called to ensure
+		// that the catchUpIter reads from the current snapshot. The replica
+		// synchronizes with the rangefeed Processor calling this function by
+		// waiting for the Register call below to return.
+		r.raftMu.AssertHeld()
 		return r.Engine().NewMVCCIterator(storage.MVCCKeyAndIntentsIterKind, storage.IterOptions{
 			UpperBound: desc.EndKey.AsRawKey(),
 			// TODO(nvanbenschoten): To facilitate fast restarts of rangefeed