diff --git a/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh b/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
index b226f7b..449c19a 100755
--- a/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
+++ b/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
@@ -232,12 +232,13 @@ log "Bringing up DRBD on both nodes..."
 drbdadm up ha-data 2>/dev/null || true
 n2_ssh "drbdadm up ha-data" 2>/dev/null || true
 
-log "Clearing Pacemaker standby — DRBD is up, letting Pacemaker resume..."
-crm_standby -N "$NODE1" -v off 2>/dev/null || true
-crm_standby -N "$NODE2" -v off 2>/dev/null || true
-
 log "Forcing $NODE1 to DRBD Primary for initial sync..."
 drbdadm primary ha-data --force
+# NOTE: Pacemaker standby is intentionally kept ON until after the sync
+# completes.  Clearing it here races with the OCF DRBD agent: Pacemaker
+# sees DRBD in WFConnection/SyncSource and may call drbdadm-down thinking
+# something went wrong, killing the sync.  Standby is cleared below, after
+# UpToDate/UpToDate is confirmed.
 
 log "Waiting for DRBD initial sync to complete (32 GB may take 10–20 min)..."
 log "  (monitor with: watch -n3 cat /proc/drbd)"
@@ -271,6 +272,10 @@ while true; do
   sleep 3
 done
 
+log "Clearing Pacemaker standby — sync complete, handing DRBD back to Pacemaker..."
+crm_standby -N "$NODE1" -v off 2>/dev/null || true
+crm_standby -N "$NODE2" -v off 2>/dev/null || true
+
 # ── 3. XFS filesystem ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 log "Creating XFS on ${DRBD_DEVICE}..."
 if ! xfs_info "${DRBD_DEVICE}" &>/dev/null; then