diff --git a/src/platform.js b/src/platform.js
index fdf2648ab..23c330f9a 100644
--- a/src/platform.js
+++ b/src/platform.js
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 exports = module.exports = {
     initialize: initialize,
+    uninitialize: uninitialize,
+
+    events: new (require('events').EventEmitter)(),
+    EVENT_READY: 'ready',
+
+    isReadySync: isReadySync,
 
     mailConfig: mailConfig
 };
@@ -22,7 +28,8 @@ var apps = require('./apps.js'),
     shell = require('./shell.js'),
     util = require('util');
 
-var gAddonVars = null;
+var gAddonVars = null,
+    gPlatformReadyTimer = null;
 
 function initialize(callback) {
     if (process.env.BOX_ENV === 'test' && !process.env.CREATE_INFRA) return callback();
@@ -52,6 +59,24 @@ function initialize(callback) {
         mailboxes.setupAliases,
         fs.writeFile.bind(fs, paths.INFRA_VERSION_FILE, JSON.stringify(infra))
     ], callback);
+
+    // give 30 seconds for the platform to "settle". For example, mysql might still be initing the
+    // database dir and we cannot call service scripts until that's done.
+    // TODO: make this smarter to not wait for 30secs for the crash-restart case
+    gPlatformReadyTimer = setTimeout(function () {
+        gPlatformReadyTimer = null;
+        exports.events.emit(exports.EVENT_READY);
+    }, 30000);
+}
+
+function uninitialize(callback) {
+    clearTimeout(gPlatformReadyTimer);
+    gPlatformReadyTimer = null;
+    callback();
+}
+
+function isReadySync() {
+    return gPlatformReadyTimer === null;
 }
 
 function removeOldImages(callback) {
diff --git a/src/server.js b/src/server.js
index 8ccd57704..983c1ecba 100644
--- a/src/server.js
+++ b/src/server.js
@@ -291,6 +291,7 @@ function stop(callback) {
         auth.uninitialize,
         cloudron.uninitialize,
         taskmanager.uninitialize,
+        platform.uninitialize,
         cron.uninitialize,
         mailer.uninitialize,
         database.uninitialize,
diff --git a/src/taskmanager.js b/src/taskmanager.js
index 98e231590..0ba48074f 100644
--- a/src/taskmanager.js
+++ b/src/taskmanager.js
@@ -19,14 +19,13 @@ var appdb = require('./appdb.js'),
     cloudron = require('./cloudron.js'),
     debug = require('debug')('box:taskmanager'),
     locker = require('./locker.js'),
+    platform = require('./platform.js'),
     sendFailureLogs = require('./logcollector.js').sendFailureLogs,
     util = require('util'),
     _ = require('underscore');
 
 var gActiveTasks = { };
 var gPendingTasks = [ ];
-var gPlatformReady = false; // PaaS (addons) up and running
-var gPlatformReadyTimer = null;
 
 var TASK_CONCURRENCY = 5;
 var NOOP_CALLBACK = function (error) { if (error) console.error(error); };
@@ -36,15 +35,7 @@ function initialize(callback) {
 
     locker.on('unlocked', startNextTask);
 
-    gPlatformReadyTimer = setTimeout(function () {
-        gPlatformReady = true;
-
-        if (cloudron.isConfiguredSync()) {
-            resumeTasks();
-        } else {
-            cloudron.events.on(cloudron.EVENT_CONFIGURED, resumeTasks);
-        }
-    }, 30000); // wait 30 seconds to signal platform ready
+    platform.events.on(platform.EVENT_READY, platformReady);
 
     callback();
 }
@@ -54,9 +45,9 @@ function uninitialize(callback) {
 
     gPendingTasks = [ ]; // clear this first, otherwise stopAppTask will resume them
 
-    clearTimeout(gPlatformReadyTimer);
-
     cloudron.events.removeListener(cloudron.EVENT_CONFIGURED, resumeTasks);
+    platform.events.removeListener(platform.EVENT_READY, platformReady);
+
     locker.removeListener('unlocked', startNextTask);
 
     async.eachSeries(Object.keys(gActiveTasks), stopAppTask, callback);
@@ -81,6 +72,14 @@ function waitForPendingTasks(callback) {
     checkTasks();
 }
 
+function platformReady() {
+    if (cloudron.isConfiguredSync()) {
+        resumeTasks();
+    } else {
+        cloudron.events.on(cloudron.EVENT_CONFIGURED, resumeTasks);
+    }
+}
+
 // resume app installs and uninstalls
 function resumeTasks(callback) {
     callback = callback || NOOP_CALLBACK;
@@ -119,7 +118,7 @@ function startAppTask(appId, callback) {
         return callback(new Error(util.format('Task for %s is already active', appId)));
     }
 
-    if (!gPlatformReady) {
+    if (!platform.isReadySync()) {
         debug('Platform not ready yet, queueing task for %s', appId);
         gPendingTasks.push(appId);
         return callback();