diff --git a/src/controller/cluster.c b/src/controller/cluster.c
index 9d7cf754..58bd4dba 100644
--- a/src/controller/cluster.c
+++ b/src/controller/cluster.c
@@ -1119,10 +1119,12 @@ int cluster_start(cluster_t* c)
     endpoint_set_conn_handler(&(c->ep), (conn_handler_t)handle_connection);
     c->ep.iomgr = &(c->iomgr);
 
-    rc = iomgr_monitor(&(c->ep));
-
-    if (rc < 0) {
-        return rc;
+    /* Skip iomgr_monitor if cluster_register_listener already registered
+     * this fd with epoll (ep->flags is set on successful registration). */
+    if (c->ep.flags == 0) {
+        rc = iomgr_monitor(&(c->ep));
+        if (rc < 0)
+            return rc;
     }
 
     /* Guard: myapp_run() starts iomgr and vtaskmgr before election so that
@@ -1207,6 +1209,7 @@ void cluster_fini(cluster_t* c)
     xce_run_hooks(&(c->hooksys), XCE_CONTROLLER_HOOK_CLUSTER, HOOK_AFTER_EVENT,
                   HOOK_DETAIL_CLUSTER_SHUTDOWN, c);
     cbuf_fini(&(c->wbuf));
+    iomgr_stop(&(c->iomgr));   /* join worker thread before freeing SSL_CTX */
     iomgr_fini(&(c->iomgr));
 
     destroy(c->jobmgr);
diff --git a/src/controller/myapp.c b/src/controller/myapp.c
index 309d8d44..096fd808 100644
--- a/src/controller/myapp.c
+++ b/src/controller/myapp.c
@@ -113,15 +113,27 @@ int myapp_run(myconf_t* myconf)
         return rc;
     }
 
-    /* Election: quorum-based role determination (Req 2.1, 2.9).
-     * Build the peer pointer array (excluding self) for am_i_primary_quorum().
-     * peers_cfg.candidates includes this node; n_peers = candidates_count.
-     * my_priority is the index of this node in the candidates list. */
+    /* Req 1.1: wait for an incoming heartbeat before starting election.
+     * If a primary already exists it will send heartbeats; receiving one means
+     * this node should become STANDBY immediately (skip election).
+     * If no heartbeat arrives within election_timeout_ms + jitter, proceed to
+     * election — no primary is reachable and this node should compete. */
+    int skip_election = 0;
     {
+        ctrl_role_t hb_role = ha_wait_for_heartbeat_or_timeout(&c.ha);
+        if (hb_role == CTRL_STANDBY) {
+            /* A primary is already running — skip election, go straight to standby */
+            INFO("HA: heartbeat received — existing primary detected, becoming STANDBY");
+            skip_election = 1;
+        }
+        /* CTRL_ELECTING: no heartbeat received, proceed to election */
+    }
+
+    if (!skip_election) {
+        /* Election: quorum-based role determination (Req 2.1, 2.9). */
         const xce_cluster_config_t *pcfg = &myconf->peers_cfg;
         int n_peers = (pcfg->candidates_count > 0) ? pcfg->candidates_count : 1;
 
-        /* Build array of pointers to other candidates (excluding self by index) */
         xce_candidate_t *peer_ptrs[MAX_HA_CANDIDATES];
         int n_other = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < pcfg->candidates_count; i++) {
@@ -134,46 +146,25 @@ int myapp_run(myconf_t* myconf)
                                                           memory_order_acquire);
 
         ctrl_role_t elected = am_i_primary_quorum(
-            &c.ha,
-            n_peers,
-            (n_other > 0) ? peer_ptrs : NULL,
-            my_tag,
-            my_lsn);
+            &c.ha, n_peers, (n_other > 0) ? peer_ptrs : NULL, my_tag, my_lsn);
 
         if (elected == CTRL_PRIMARY) {
-            /* Primary: load config from conf/current (FATAL if missing) */
             rc = load_primary_config(&c);
             if (rc != 0) {
                 cluster_fini(&c);
                 myconf_fini(myconf);
                 return rc;
             }
-            /* am_i_primary_quorum logs FSM transition; set role explicitly */
             atomic_store_explicit(&c.ha.role, (int32_t)CTRL_PRIMARY,
                                   memory_order_release);
         } else {
-            /* Req 3.5: if bootstrap deferred the config fetch, fetch now from the
-             * proven election winner (the primary we just lost to). */
             if (c.ha.defer_config_fetch) {
-                /* Locate the winner: the primary is candidates[0] in the peers list
-                 * (highest priority = lowest index in the candidates array).
-                 * do_one_config_fetch() retries internally; we call it once here and
-                 * fall through to fetch_config_from_primary() on failure for resilience. */
-                const xce_cluster_config_t *pcfg = &myconf->peers_cfg;
-                if (pcfg->candidates_count > 0) {
-                    const char *winner_host = pcfg->candidates[0].hostname;
-                    uint32_t    winner_port = pcfg->candidates[0].port;
+                const xce_cluster_config_t *p2 = &myconf->peers_cfg;
+                if (p2->candidates_count > 0)
                     INFO("HA bootstrap: deferred config fetch from winner %s:%u",
-                         winner_host, (unsigned)winner_port);
-                    /* do_one_config_fetch is static in config_repl.c; fall through to
-                     * fetch_config_from_primary() which handles the full retry logic. */
-                }
+                         p2->candidates[0].hostname, (unsigned)p2->candidates[0].port);
                 c.ha.defer_config_fetch = false;
             }
-
-            /* Standby: fetch config from primary before Phase 2.
-             * Skip if this node already has a valid local config (ground-truth
-             * nodes should not fetch from primary — they ARE the ground truth). */
             if (myconf->config_version_tag == 0) {
                 rc = fetch_config_from_primary(&c);
                 if (rc != 0) {
@@ -185,7 +176,16 @@ int myapp_run(myconf_t* myconf)
                 INFO("Standby has local config (tag=%016llx) — skipping fetch from primary",
                      (unsigned long long)myconf->config_version_tag);
             }
-            /* Role stays CTRL_STANDBY — already set by ha_init(). */
+        }
+    } else {
+        /* Heartbeat-detected STANDBY: fetch config if not already loaded. */
+        if (myconf->config_version_tag == 0) {
+            rc = fetch_config_from_primary(&c);
+            if (rc != 0) {
+                cluster_fini(&c);
+                myconf_fini(myconf);
+                return rc;
+            }
         }
     }