diff --git a/ocis-pkg/roles/manager.go b/ocis-pkg/roles/manager.go
index 1878db020..6c58239ed 100644
--- a/ocis-pkg/roles/manager.go
+++ b/ocis-pkg/roles/manager.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ func (m *Manager) List(ctx context.Context, roleIDs []string) []*settingsmsg.Bun
 		res, err := m.roleService.ListRoles(ctx, request)
 		if err != nil {
 			m.logger.Debug().Err(err).Msg("failed to fetch roles by roleIDs")
+			return nil
 		}
 		for _, role := range res.Bundles {
 			m.cache.set(role.Id, role)
diff --git a/settings/pkg/service/v0/service.go b/settings/pkg/service/v0/service.go
index 5c372954b..87dc662e2 100644
--- a/settings/pkg/service/v0/service.go
+++ b/settings/pkg/service/v0/service.go
@@ -88,6 +88,11 @@ func (g Service) CheckPermission(ctx context.Context, req *permissions.CheckPerm
 
 // RegisterDefaultRoles composes default roles and saves them. Skipped if the roles already exist.
 func (g Service) RegisterDefaultRoles() {
+	// TODO: we can't register on service start any more because metadata might not be up yet
+	// we need to lazy initialize
+	if true {
+		return
+	}
 	// FIXME: we're writing default roles per service start (i.e. twice at the moment, for http and grpc server). has to happen only once.
 	for _, role := range generateBundlesDefaultRoles() {
 		bundleID := role.Extension + "." + role.Id
diff --git a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/assignments.go b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/assignments.go
index 9c2dcbb1e..6c311b8b2 100644
--- a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/assignments.go
+++ b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/assignments.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 // ListRoleAssignments loads and returns all role assignments matching the given assignment identifier.
 func (s Store) ListRoleAssignments(accountUUID string) ([]*settingsmsg.UserRoleAssignment, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	assIDs, err := s.mdc.ReadDir(nil, accountPath(accountUUID))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ func (s Store) ListRoleAssignments(accountUUID string) ([]*settingsmsg.UserRoleA
 
 // WriteRoleAssignment appends the given role assignment to the existing assignments of the respective account.
 func (s Store) WriteRoleAssignment(accountUUID, roleID string) (*settingsmsg.UserRoleAssignment, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	// as per https://github.com/owncloud/product/issues/103 "Each user can have exactly one role"
 	err := s.mdc.Delete(nil, accountPath(accountUUID))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ func (s Store) WriteRoleAssignment(accountUUID, roleID string) (*settingsmsg.Use
 
 // RemoveRoleAssignment deletes the given role assignment from the existing assignments of the respective account.
 func (s Store) RemoveRoleAssignment(assignmentID string) error {
+	s.Init()
 	accounts, err := s.mdc.ReadDir(nil, accountsFolderLocation)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/bundles.go b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/bundles.go
index 16e700d24..3dca510b0 100644
--- a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/bundles.go
+++ b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/bundles.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 // ListBundles returns all bundles in the dataPath folder that match the given type.
 func (s Store) ListBundles(bundleType settingsmsg.Bundle_Type, bundleIDs []string) ([]*settingsmsg.Bundle, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	var bundles []*settingsmsg.Bundle
 	for _, id := range bundleIDs {
 		b, err := s.mdc.SimpleDownload(nil, bundlePath(id))
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ func (s Store) ListBundles(bundleType settingsmsg.Bundle_Type, bundleIDs []strin
 
 // ReadBundle tries to find a bundle by the given id within the dataPath.
 func (s Store) ReadBundle(bundleID string) (*settingsmsg.Bundle, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	b, err := s.mdc.SimpleDownload(nil, bundlePath(bundleID))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -50,6 +52,7 @@ func (s Store) ReadSetting(settingID string) (*settingsmsg.Setting, error) {
 
 // WriteBundle sends the givens record to the metadataclient. returns `record` for legacy reasons
 func (s Store) WriteBundle(record *settingsmsg.Bundle) (*settingsmsg.Bundle, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	b, err := json.Marshal(record)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store.go b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store.go
index 629439287..791ffbe29 100644
--- a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store.go
+++ b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store.go
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ package store
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/cs3org/reva/pkg/storage/utils/metadata"
 	olog "github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/log"
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type MetadataClient interface {
 	Delete(ctx context.Context, id string) error
 	ReadDir(ctx context.Context, id string) ([]string, error)
 	MakeDirIfNotExist(ctx context.Context, id string) error
+	Init(ctx context.Context, id string) error
 }
 
 // Store interacts with the filesystem to manage settings information
@@ -37,6 +38,34 @@ type Store struct {
 	Logger olog.Logger
 
 	mdc MetadataClient
+	cfg *config.Config
+
+	init *sync.Once
+	l    *sync.Mutex
+}
+
+// Init initialize the store once, later calls are noops
+func (s Store) Init() {
+	if s.mdc != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	s.l.Lock()
+	defer s.l.Unlock()
+	var err error
+	s.init.Do(func() {
+		//b := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+		//b.MaxElapsedTime = 4 * time.Second
+		//backoff.Retry(func() error {
+		err = s.initMetadataClient()
+		//return err
+
+		//}, b)
+
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
 }
 
 // New creates a new store
@@ -48,9 +77,10 @@ func New(cfg *config.Config) settings.Manager {
 		//olog.Level(cfg.Log.Level),
 		//olog.File(cfg.Log.File),
 		//),
+		l:    &sync.Mutex{},
+		init: &sync.Once{},
 	}
 
-	s.mdc = NewMetadataClient(cfg)
 	return &s
 }
 
@@ -60,11 +90,17 @@ func NewMetadataClient(cfg *config.Config) MetadataClient {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal("error connecting to mdc:", err)
 	}
+	return mdc
 
-	fmt.Println(settingsSpaceID)
-	err = mdc.Init(nil, settingsSpaceID)
+}
+
+// we need to lazy initialize the MetadataClient because metadata service might not be ready
+func (s Store) initMetadataClient() error {
+	s.mdc = NewMetadataClient(s.cfg)
+
+	err := s.mdc.Init(nil, settingsSpaceID)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal("error initializing mdc:", err)
+		return err
 	}
 
 	for _, p := range []string{
@@ -73,13 +109,12 @@ func NewMetadataClient(cfg *config.Config) MetadataClient {
 		bundleFolderLocation,
 		valuesFolderLocation,
 	} {
-		err = mdc.MakeDirIfNotExist(nil, p)
+		err = s.mdc.MakeDirIfNotExist(nil, p)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("error creating settings folder '%s': %s", p, err)
+			return err
 		}
 	}
-	return mdc
-
+	return nil
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store_test.go b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store_test.go
index 326ca6476..c42f3d027 100644
--- a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store_test.go
+++ b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/store_test.go
@@ -95,7 +95,12 @@ func (m *MockedMetadataClient) ReadDir(_ context.Context, id string) ([]string,
 }
 
 // MakeDirIfNotExist does nothing
-func (m *MockedMetadataClient) MakeDirIfNotExist(_ context.Context, id string) error {
+func (*MockedMetadataClient) MakeDirIfNotExist(_ context.Context, _ string) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Init does nothing
+func (*MockedMetadataClient) Init(_ context.Context, _ string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/values.go b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/values.go
index 50421b5d5..4f7c23c53 100644
--- a/settings/pkg/store/metadata/values.go
+++ b/settings/pkg/store/metadata/values.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ func (s Store) ListValues(bundleID, accountUUID string) ([]*settingsmsg.Value, e
 
 // ReadValue tries to find a value by the given valueId within the dataPath
 func (s Store) ReadValue(valueID string) (*settingsmsg.Value, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	b, err := s.mdc.SimpleDownload(nil, valuePath(valueID))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ func (s Store) ReadValueByUniqueIdentifiers(accountUUID, settingID string) (*set
 
 // WriteValue writes the given value into a file within the dataPath
 func (s Store) WriteValue(value *settingsmsg.Value) (*settingsmsg.Value, error) {
+	s.Init()
 	b, err := json.Marshal(value)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err