diff --git a/.changelog/5005.bugfix.1.md b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.1.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c3db957acbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.1.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+go/worker/common: Reorder state determination checks
+
+Otherwise the shown state would be misleading, e.g. showing that it is
+waiting for runtime host being provisioned while it is actually blocked
+in initialization like storage sync.
diff --git a/.changelog/5005.bugfix.2.md b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.2.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..552a10a62b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.2.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+go/worker/storage: Fix case when checkpoint sync disabled but forced
+
+If checkpoint sync is disabled but sync has been forced (e.g. because
+the state at genesis is non-empty), we must request to sync the
+checkpoint at genesis as otherwise we will jump to a later state which
+may not be desired given that checkpoint sync has been explicitly
+disabled via config.
diff --git a/.changelog/5005.bugfix.3.md b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.3.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f0c9924acf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.3.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+go/storage/mkvs/checkpoint: Exclude initial version when pruning
diff --git a/.changelog/5005.bugfix.4.md b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.4.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4b95b23f27b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5005.bugfix.4.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+go/p2p/rpc: Fix multi call dispatch to different peers
diff --git a/go/p2p/rpc/client.go b/go/p2p/rpc/client.go
index 6e0f42c8382..0f2e79d316a 100644
--- a/go/p2p/rpc/client.go
+++ b/go/p2p/rpc/client.go
@@ -355,6 +355,7 @@ func (c *client) CallMulti(
 	}
 	var resultChs []channels.SimpleOutChannel
 	for _, peer := range c.GetBestPeers() {
+		peer := peer // Make sure goroutine below operates on the right instance.
 		if !c.isPeerAcceptable(peer) {
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/go/p2p/rpc/peermgmt.go b/go/p2p/rpc/peermgmt.go
index de748982e21..190db110f83 100644
--- a/go/p2p/rpc/peermgmt.go
+++ b/go/p2p/rpc/peermgmt.go
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ func (mgr *peerManager) AddPeer(peerID core.PeerID) {
 
 	mgr.logger.Debug("added new peer",
 		"peer_id", peerID,
+		"num_peers", len(mgr.peers),
 	)
 }
 
@@ -134,6 +135,7 @@ func (mgr *peerManager) RemovePeer(peerID core.PeerID) {
 
 	mgr.logger.Debug("removed peer",
 		"peer_id", peerID,
+		"num_peers", len(mgr.peers),
 	)
 }
 
diff --git a/go/storage/mkvs/checkpoint/checkpointer.go b/go/storage/mkvs/checkpoint/checkpointer.go
index 1ae9eae8f3e..98245e8a0cc 100644
--- a/go/storage/mkvs/checkpoint/checkpointer.go
+++ b/go/storage/mkvs/checkpoint/checkpointer.go
@@ -250,7 +250,10 @@ func (c *checkpointer) maybeCheckpoint(ctx context.Context, version uint64, para
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Garbage collect old checkpoints.
+	// Garbage collect old checkpoints, first making sure that genesis checkpoint is excluded.
+	if len(cpVersions) > 0 && cpVersions[0] == params.InitialVersion {
+		cpVersions = cpVersions[1:]
+	}
 	if int(params.NumKept) < len(cpVersions) {
 		c.logger.Info("performing checkpoint garbage collection",
 			"num_checkpoints", len(cpVersions),
diff --git a/go/worker/common/committee/node.go b/go/worker/common/committee/node.go
index 84ac40c11af..f33fcf36b4f 100644
--- a/go/worker/common/committee/node.go
+++ b/go/worker/common/committee/node.go
@@ -206,15 +206,15 @@ func (n *Node) getStatusStateLocked() api.StatusState {
 	if atomic.LoadUint32(&n.keymanagerAvailable) == 0 {
 		return api.StatusStateWaitingKeymanager
 	}
-	if atomic.LoadUint32(&n.hostedRuntimeProvisioned) == 0 {
-		return api.StatusStateWaitingHostedRuntime
-	}
 	if atomic.LoadUint32(&n.historyReindexingDone) == 0 {
 		return api.StatusStateWaitingHistoryReindex
 	}
 	if atomic.LoadUint32(&n.workersInitialized) == 0 {
 		return api.StatusStateWaitingWorkersInit
 	}
+	if atomic.LoadUint32(&n.hostedRuntimeProvisioned) == 0 {
+		return api.StatusStateWaitingHostedRuntime
+	}
 	// If resumeCh exists the runtime is suspended (safe to check since the cross node lock should be held).
 	if n.resumeCh != nil {
 		return api.StatusStateRuntimeSuspended
diff --git a/go/worker/storage/committee/checkpoint_sync.go b/go/worker/storage/committee/checkpoint_sync.go
index cc7fafbde85..39a47e18801 100644
--- a/go/worker/storage/committee/checkpoint_sync.go
+++ b/go/worker/storage/committee/checkpoint_sync.go
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ func (n *Node) checkCheckpointUsable(cp *storageSync.Checkpoint, remainingMask o
 	return false
 }
 
-func (n *Node) syncCheckpoints(genesisRound uint64) (*blockSummary, error) {
+func (n *Node) syncCheckpoints(genesisRound uint64, wantOnlyGenesis bool) (*blockSummary, error) {
 	// Store roots and round info for checkpoints that finished syncing.
 	// Round and namespace info will get overwritten as rounds are skipped
 	// for errors, driven by remainingRoots.
@@ -343,6 +343,17 @@ func (n *Node) syncCheckpoints(genesisRound uint64) (*blockSummary, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("can't get checkpoint list from peers: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// If we only want the genesis checkpoint, filter it out.
+	if wantOnlyGenesis && len(cps) > 0 {
+		var filteredCps []*storageSync.Checkpoint
+		for _, cp := range cps {
+			if cp.Root.Version == genesisRound {
+				filteredCps = append(filteredCps, cp)
+			}
+		}
+		cps = filteredCps
+	}
+
 	// Try all the checkpoints now, from most recent backwards.
 	var (
 		prevVersion      = ^uint64(0)
diff --git a/go/worker/storage/committee/node.go b/go/worker/storage/committee/node.go
index abd2e040f40..5be09e050b8 100644
--- a/go/worker/storage/committee/node.go
+++ b/go/worker/storage/committee/node.go
@@ -911,6 +911,11 @@ func (n *Node) worker() { // nolint: gocyclo
 	//
 	// - We haven't synced anything yet and checkpoint sync is not disabled.
 	//
+	// If checkpoint sync is disabled but sync has been forced (e.g. because the state at genesis
+	// is non-empty), we must request to sync the checkpoint at genesis as otherwise we will jump
+	// to a later state which may not be desired given that checkpoint sync has been explicitly
+	// disabled via config.
+	//
 	if (isInitialStartup && !n.checkpointSyncCfg.Disabled) || n.checkpointSyncForced {
 		var (
 			summary *blockSummary
@@ -918,7 +923,7 @@ func (n *Node) worker() { // nolint: gocyclo
 		)
 	CheckpointSyncRetry:
 		for {
-			summary, err = n.syncCheckpoints(genesisBlock.Header.Round)
+			summary, err = n.syncCheckpoints(genesisBlock.Header.Round, n.checkpointSyncCfg.Disabled)
 			if err == nil {
 				break
 			}