diff --git a/conf/hstream.yaml b/conf/hstream.yaml
index 5e6ec57b2..10c99d0f5 100644
--- a/conf/hstream.yaml
+++ b/conf/hstream.yaml
@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@ hserver:
   #  gossip-interval: 1000000   # 1 sec
   #  probe-interval: 2000000    # 2 sec
   #  roundtrip-timeout: 500000  # 0.5 sec
+  #
+  # recover-tasks-delay-ms: 0
 
   # TODO: Auth tokens
   #   - store tokens safely
diff --git a/hstream/app/server.hs b/hstream/app/server.hs
index 69218f752..c8ab7b6d6 100644
--- a/hstream/app/server.hs
+++ b/hstream/app/server.hs
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE TypeApplications    #-}
 
 import           Control.Concurrent               (forkIO, newEmptyMVar,
-                                                   putMVar, readMVar)
+                                                   putMVar, readMVar,
+                                                   threadDelay)
 import qualified Control.Concurrent.Async         as Async
 import           Control.Exception                (bracket, handle)
 import           Control.Monad                    (forM, forM_, join, void,
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ import           HStream.Server.Config            (AdvertisedListeners,
                                                    FileLoggerSettings (..),
                                                    ListenersSecurityProtocolMap,
                                                    MetaStoreAddr (..),
+                                                   RecoverOpts (..),
                                                    SecurityProtocolMap,
                                                    ServerCli (..),
                                                    ServerOpts (..), TlsConfig,
@@ -219,7 +221,10 @@ serve sc@ServerContext{..} rpcOpts enableStreamV2 = do
             _ -> do
               getProtoTimestamp >>= \x -> upsertMeta @Proto.Timestamp clusterStartTimeId x metaHandle
               handle (\(_ :: RQLiteRowNotFound) -> return ()) $ deleteAllMeta @TaskAllocation metaHandle
+              Log.info "deleted all TaskAllocation records"
           -- recover tasks
+          when (serverOpts._recover_opts._recover_tasks_delay_ms > 0) $ do
+            threadDelay $ 1000 * serverOpts._recover_opts._recover_tasks_delay_ms
           Log.info "recovering local io tasks"
           Cluster.recoverLocalTasks sc scIOWorker
           Log.info "recovering local query tasks"
diff --git a/hstream/src/HStream/Server/Config.hs b/hstream/src/HStream/Server/Config.hs
index 068b3f9ea..6ae346bfb 100644
--- a/hstream/src/HStream/Server/Config.hs
+++ b/hstream/src/HStream/Server/Config.hs
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ module HStream.Server.Config
   , readProtocol
 #endif
   , parseHostPorts
+
+  , RecoverOpts (..)
   ) where
 
 import           Control.Exception                (throwIO)
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ data ServerOpts = ServerOpts
 
   , _gossipOpts                   :: !GossipOpts
   , _ioOptions                    :: !IO.IOOptions
+  , _recover_opts                 :: !RecoverOpts
 
   , _querySnapshotPath            :: !FilePath
   , experimentalFeatures          :: ![ExperimentalFeature]
@@ -272,6 +275,9 @@ parseJSONToOptions CliOptions{..} obj = do
   tokensCfg <- nodeCfgObj .:? "tokens" .!= mempty
   let serverTokens = map encodeUtf8 tokensCfg
 
+  _recover_tasks_delay_ms <- nodeCfgObj .:? "recover-tasks-delay-ms" .!= 0
+  let !_recover_opts = RecoverOpts{..}
+
   return ServerOpts {..}
 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -325,3 +331,9 @@ readWithErrLog :: Read a => String -> String -> a
 readWithErrLog opt v = case readEither v of
   Right x -> x
   Left _err -> errorWithoutStackTrace $ "Failed to parse value " <> show v <> " for option " <> opt
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+data RecoverOpts
+  = RecoverOpts
+  { _recover_tasks_delay_ms :: Int
+  } deriving (Show, Eq)
diff --git a/hstream/test/HStream/ConfigSpec.hs b/hstream/test/HStream/ConfigSpec.hs
index e3bde07fe..e486eb87e 100644
--- a/hstream/test/HStream/ConfigSpec.hs
+++ b/hstream/test/HStream/ConfigSpec.hs
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import           HStream.Gossip                   (GossipOpts (..),
 import           HStream.IO.Types                 (IOOptions (..))
 import           HStream.Server.Config            (CliOptions (..),
                                                    MetaStoreAddr (..),
+                                                   RecoverOpts (RecoverOpts),
                                                    ServerOpts (..),
                                                    TlsConfig (..),
                                                    parseHostPorts,
@@ -124,6 +125,8 @@ defaultConfig = ServerOpts
 
   , _gossipOpts                = defaultGossipOpts
   , _ioOptions                 = defaultIOOptions
+  , _recover_opts              = RecoverOpts 0
+
   , _querySnapshotPath         = "/data/query_snapshots"
   , experimentalFeatures       = []
   , grpcChannelArgs            = []
@@ -294,6 +297,8 @@ instance Arbitrary ServerOpts where
     let experimentalFeatures = []
     let grpcChannelArgs = []
     let serverTokens = []
+
+    let _recover_opts = RecoverOpts 0
     pure ServerOpts{..}
 
 instance Arbitrary CliOptions where