diff --git a/PluralKit.Bot/Init.cs b/PluralKit.Bot/Init.cs
index 9fd600a1..8578d2d6 100644
--- a/PluralKit.Bot/Init.cs
+++ b/PluralKit.Bot/Init.cs
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ public class Init
             var bot = services.Resolve<Bot>();
             bot.Init();
 
+            // if we're running single-process, clear any existing shard status from the database
+            var config = services.Resolve<BotConfig>();
+            var repo = services.Resolve<ModelRepository>();
+            if (config.Cluster == null)
+                await repo.ClearShardStatus();
+
             // Start the Discord shards themselves (handlers already set up)
             logger.Information("Connecting to Discord");
             await StartCluster(services);
diff --git a/PluralKit.Core/Database/Repository/ModelRepository.Shards.cs b/PluralKit.Core/Database/Repository/ModelRepository.Shards.cs
index 3ad24c30..1006b0f9 100644
--- a/PluralKit.Core/Database/Repository/ModelRepository.Shards.cs
+++ b/PluralKit.Core/Database/Repository/ModelRepository.Shards.cs
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ public partial class ModelRepository
             "insert into shards (id, status) values (@Id, @Status) on conflict (id) do update set status = @Status",
             new { Id = shard, Status = status });
 
+    public Task ClearShardStatus() => _db.Execute(conn => conn.ExecuteAsync("update shards set status = 0"));
+
     public Task RegisterShardHeartbeat(IPKConnection conn, int shard, Duration ping) =>
         conn.ExecuteAsync(
             "insert into shards (id, last_heartbeat, ping) values (@Id, now(), @Ping) on conflict (id) do update set last_heartbeat = now(), ping = @Ping",