diff --git a/vm-init.d/qubes-core-appvm b/vm-init.d/qubes-core-appvm
index 3026812..00366bd 100755
--- a/vm-init.d/qubes-core-appvm
+++ b/vm-init.d/qubes-core-appvm
@@ -52,13 +52,16 @@ start()
 		dmesg -c >/dev/null
 		free | grep Mem: | 
 			(read a b c d ; qubesdb-write /qubes-used-mem $c)
+		# give dom0 time to read some entries, when done it will shutdown qubesdb,
+		# so wait for it
+		qubesdb-watch /stop-qubesdb
+		# just to make sure
+		systemctl stop qubes-db.service
+
 		# we're still running in DispVM template
 		echo "Waiting for save/restore..."
-		# ... wait until qubes-restore.c (in Dom0) recreates VM-specific keys
-        # TODO: restart qubesdb service before this
-		while ! qubesdb-read /qubes-restore-complete 2>/dev/null ; do
-			usleep 10
-		done
+		# the service will start only after successful restore
+		systemctl start qubes-db.service
 		echo Back to life.
 	fi
 
diff --git a/vm-systemd/prepare-dvm.sh b/vm-systemd/prepare-dvm.sh
index 1ce098f..0d20b7c 100755
--- a/vm-systemd/prepare-dvm.sh
+++ b/vm-systemd/prepare-dvm.sh
@@ -25,13 +25,16 @@ if qubesdb-read /qubes-save-request 2>/dev/null ; then
     dmesg -c >/dev/null
     free | grep Mem: | 
         (read a b c d ; qubesdb-write /qubes-used-mem $c)
+    # give dom0 time to read some entries, when done it will shutdown qubesdb,
+    # so wait for it
+    qubesdb-watch /stop-qubesdb
+    # just to make sure
+    systemctl stop qubes-db.service
+
     # we're still running in DispVM template
     echo "Waiting for save/restore..."
-    # ... wait until qubes-restore.c (in Dom0) recreates VM-specific keys
-    # TODO: restart qubesdb-daemon before this
-    while ! qubesdb-read /qubes-restore-complete 2>/dev/null ; do
-        usleep 10
-    done
+    # the service will start only after successful restore
+    systemctl start qubes-db.service
     echo Back to life.
 fi