diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Boot/FirstBootMigration.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Boot/FirstBootMigration.cs
index ea582dbf3..a92097329 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Boot/FirstBootMigration.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Boot/FirstBootMigration.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
+using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Sync;
 using Umbraco.Cms.Core.Web;
 using Umbraco.Cms.Infrastructure.Migrations;
 
@@ -30,9 +31,10 @@ public FirstBootMigrationPlan()
 /// <summary>
 /// First boot Feature migration
 /// </summary>
-public class FirstBootMigration : AsyncMigrationBase
+public class FirstBootMigration : UnscopedAsyncMigrationBase
 {
     private readonly IUmbracoContextFactory _umbracoContextFactory;
+    private readonly IServerRoleAccessor _serverRoleAccessor;
     private readonly ISyncConfigService _uSyncConfig;
     private readonly ISyncService _uSyncService;
     private readonly ILogger<FirstBootMigration> _logger;
@@ -43,19 +45,19 @@ public FirstBootMigration(
         IUmbracoContextFactory umbracoContextFactory,
         ISyncConfigService uSyncConfig,
         ISyncService uSyncService,
-        ILogger<FirstBootMigration> logger) : base(context)
+        ILogger<FirstBootMigration> logger,
+        IServerRoleAccessor serverRoleAccessor) : base(context)
     {
         _umbracoContextFactory = umbracoContextFactory;
         _uSyncConfig = uSyncConfig;
         _uSyncService = uSyncService;
         _logger = logger;
+        _serverRoleAccessor = serverRoleAccessor;
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
     protected override async Task MigrateAsync()
     {
-        // TODO: doesn't work in the betas. might need a new migration to add it.
-        // return;
 
         // first boot migration. 
         try
@@ -63,6 +65,12 @@ protected override async Task MigrateAsync()
             if (!_uSyncConfig.Settings.ImportOnFirstBoot)
                 return;
 
+            if (_serverRoleAccessor.CurrentServerRole == ServerRole.Subscriber)
+            {
+                _logger.LogInformation("This is a Subscriber server in a load balanced setup - uSync only runs on single or schedulingPublisher (main) servers");
+                return;
+            }
+
             var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
             var changes = 0;
 
@@ -72,8 +80,9 @@ protected override async Task MigrateAsync()
             // if config service is set to import on first boot then this 
             // will let uSync do a first boot import 
 
-            // not sure about context on migrations so will need to test
-            // or maybe we fire something into a notification (or use a static)
+            // this runs as a 'un-scoped' migration, so we need to manage the context here.
+            // as we are in the context and not just a scope all the publish stuff works 
+            // first time, just like it does in ImportOnStartup 
 
             using (var reference = _umbracoContextFactory.EnsureUmbracoContext())
             {
@@ -92,7 +101,12 @@ protected override async Task MigrateAsync()
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
             _logger.LogError(ex, "uSync First boot failed {message}", ex.Message);
-            throw;
         }
+        finally
+        {
+            // we always complete the context - even if we fail.
+            // we don't want to keep trying this migration every time.
+            Context.Complete();
+        }        
     }
 }
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Notifications/uSyncApplicationStartingHandler.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Notifications/uSyncApplicationStartingHandler.cs
index 71f1e56a8..cda58590d 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Notifications/uSyncApplicationStartingHandler.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Notifications/uSyncApplicationStartingHandler.cs
@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@ private async Task InituSyncAsync()
                     };
 
                     _logger.LogInformation("uSync: Running export at startup");
-
-
+                    
+                    
                     _uSyncService.StartupExportAsync(_uSyncConfig.GetWorkingFolder(), options).Wait();
                 }
 
@@ -131,10 +131,10 @@ private async Task InituSyncAsync()
 
                     if (!HasStopFile(_uSyncConfig.GetWorkingFolder()))
                     {
-                        _uSyncService.StartupImportAsync(_uSyncConfig.GetFolders(), false, new SyncHandlerOptions
+                        await _uSyncService.StartupImportAsync(_uSyncConfig.GetFolders(), false, new SyncHandlerOptions
                         {
                             Group = _uSyncConfig.Settings.ImportAtStartup
-                        }).Wait();
+                        });
 
                         await ProcessOnceFileAsync(_uSyncConfig.GetWorkingFolder());
                     }
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncService.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncService.cs
index 078b35ee5..0efa3a9d6 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncService.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncService.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 using uSync.BackOffice.SyncHandlers;
 using uSync.BackOffice.SyncHandlers.Models;
 using uSync.Core;
+using uSync.Core.Extensions;
 using uSync.Core.Serialization;
 
 namespace uSync.BackOffice;
@@ -113,9 +114,28 @@ public bool HasRootFiles(string[] folders)
     #region Importing
     static readonly SemaphoreSlim _importSemaphoreLock = new SemaphoreSlim(1, 1);
 
+    /// <summary>
+    ///  hash of the options last used in a startup import
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    ///  as both first boot and import at startup use this method,
+    ///  and both can be triggered at startup, we use a hash of the 
+    ///  options and folders to make sure we are not running them 
+    ///  both if they are asking the same thing. 
+    /// </remarks>
+    static int? _lastStartupRun;
+
     /// <inheritdoc/>>
     public async Task<IEnumerable<uSyncAction>> StartupImportAsync(string[] folders, bool force, SyncHandlerOptions handlerOptions, uSyncCallbacks? callbacks = null)
     {
+        var runHash = $"{string.Join(",", folders)}{force}{handlerOptions.SerializeJsonString(false)}".GetDeterministicHashCode();
+
+        if (_lastStartupRun.HasValue && _lastStartupRun.Value == runHash)
+        {
+            _logger.LogInformation("uSync: Skipping [duplicate] startup import has already ran with these parameters");
+            return [];
+        }
+
         handlerOptions ??= new SyncHandlerOptions();
         handlerOptions.Action = HandlerActions.Import;
         var handlers = _handlerFactory.GetValidHandlers(handlerOptions);
@@ -127,6 +147,8 @@ public async Task<IEnumerable<uSyncAction>> StartupImportAsync(string[] folders,
         if (changes.Any(x => x.Change > ChangeType.NoChange && x.ItemType == "IContent"))
             _distributedCache.RefreshAllPublishedSnapshot();
 
+        _lastStartupRun = runHash;
+
         return changes;
     }