diff --git a/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh b/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
index 9f1271b..6d850fd 100755
--- a/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
+++ b/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
@@ -186,9 +186,14 @@ log "Configuring LIO iSCSI target via targetcli..."
 # VIP resource will make the target reachable at the VIP address.
 #
 # Clear any existing LIO state first (idempotent: re-run after a partial failure).
-if ls /sys/kernel/config/target/iscsi/ 2>/dev/null | grep -q iqn; then
-  log "Clearing existing LIO targets before reconfiguration..."
-  echo "clearconfig confirm=yes" | targetcli 2>/dev/null || true
+# Use specific delete commands — clearconfig does not reliably clear kernel state.
+if ls /sys/kernel/config/target/iscsi/ 2>/dev/null | grep -q "${ISCSI_IQN}"; then
+  log "Clearing existing LIO target ${ISCSI_IQN} before reconfiguration..."
+  targetcli "/iscsi delete ${ISCSI_IQN}" 2>/dev/null || true
+fi
+if ls /sys/kernel/config/target/core/ 2>/dev/null | grep -q "fileio"; then
+  log "Clearing existing LIO backstore ha-lun0 before reconfiguration..."
+  targetcli "/backstores/fileio delete ha-lun0" 2>/dev/null || true
 fi
 targetcli <<EOF
 /backstores/fileio create name=ha-lun0 file_or_dev=${ISCSI_LUN_FILE} size=0 write_back=false
@@ -201,7 +206,9 @@ EOF
 
 log "Tearing down LIO kernel objects — Pacemaker will restore via targetctl on the Active node..."
 # LIO holds the backing file open; clear kernel state now so the XFS unmount succeeds.
-echo "clearconfig confirm=yes" | targetcli 2>/dev/null || warn "LIO clearconfig had errors — umount may fail"
+# Use specific delete commands (clearconfig does not reliably clear kernel configfs state).
+targetcli "/iscsi delete ${ISCSI_IQN}" 2>/dev/null || warn "LIO iscsi delete failed — umount may fail"
+targetcli "/backstores/fileio delete ha-lun0" 2>/dev/null || warn "LIO backstore delete failed"
 
 log "Distributing iSCSI saveconfig to $NODE2..."
 n2_scp /etc/target/saveconfig.json /etc/target/saveconfig.json
@@ -210,7 +217,7 @@ log "Unmounting ${XFS_MOUNT} — Pacemaker manages it..."
 umount "${XFS_MOUNT}" || { sync; umount -l "${XFS_MOUNT}"; }
 
 log "Demoting DRBD to Secondary — Pacemaker manages primary role..."
-drbdadm secondary ha-data
+[[ "$(drbdadm role ha-data 2>/dev/null)" == "Primary/Secondary" ]] && drbdadm secondary ha-data || true
 
 # ── 7. Pacemaker resources ────────────────────────────────────────────────
 log "Configuring Pacemaker cluster properties..."