diff --git a/src/vector/index.ts b/src/vector/index.ts
index 21aacaf69e..948bc6a9ea 100644
--- a/src/vector/index.ts
+++ b/src/vector/index.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ async function start() {
     // load init.ts async so that its code is not executed immediately and we can catch any exceptions
     const {
         rageshakePromise,
+        setupLogStorage,
         preparePlatform,
         loadOlm,
         loadConfig,
@@ -138,6 +139,9 @@ async function start() {
         await settled(loadConfigPromise); // wait for it to settle
         // keep initialising so that we can show any possible error with as many features (theme, i18n) as possible
 
+        // now that the config is ready, try to persist logs
+        const persistLogsPromise = setupLogStorage();
+
         // Load language after loading config.json so that settingsDefaults.language can be applied
         const loadLanguagePromise = loadLanguage();
         // as quickly as we possibly can, set a default theme...
@@ -197,6 +201,11 @@ async function start() {
         await loadThemePromise;
         await loadLanguagePromise;
 
+        // We don't care if the log persistence made it through successfully, but we do want to
+        // make sure it had a chance to load before we move on. It's prepared much higher up in
+        // the process, making this the first time we check that it did something.
+        await settled(persistLogsPromise);
+
         // Finally, load the app. All of the other react-sdk imports are in this file which causes the skinner to
         // run on the components.
         await loadApp(fragparts.params);
diff --git a/src/vector/init.tsx b/src/vector/init.tsx
index de022622db..019cb352f8 100644
--- a/src/vector/init.tsx
+++ b/src/vector/init.tsx
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import PlatformPeg from "matrix-react-sdk/src/PlatformPeg";
 import SdkConfig from "matrix-react-sdk/src/SdkConfig";
 import {setTheme} from "matrix-react-sdk/src/theme";
 
-import { initRageshake } from "./rageshakesetup";
+import {initRageshake, initRageshakeStore} from "./rageshakesetup";
 
 
 export const rageshakePromise = initRageshake();
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ export function preparePlatform() {
     }
 }
 
+export function setupLogStorage() {
+    if (SdkConfig.get().bug_report_endpoint_url) {
+        return initRageshakeStore();
+    }
+    console.warn("No bug report endpoint set - logs will not be persisted");
+    return Promise.resolve();
+}
+
 export async function loadConfig() {
     // XXX: We call this twice, once here and once in MatrixChat as a prop. We call it here to ensure
     // granular settings are loaded correctly and to avoid duplicating the override logic for the theme.
diff --git a/src/vector/rageshakesetup.ts b/src/vector/rageshakesetup.ts
index 425246268f..e2c293d346 100644
--- a/src/vector/rageshakesetup.ts
+++ b/src/vector/rageshakesetup.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ import SdkConfig from "matrix-react-sdk/src/SdkConfig";
 import sendBugReport from "matrix-react-sdk/src/rageshake/submit-rageshake";
 
 export function initRageshake() {
-    const prom = rageshake.init();
+    // we manually check persistence for rageshakes ourselves
+    const prom = rageshake.init(/*setUpPersistence=*/false);
     prom.then(() => {
         console.log("Initialised rageshake.");
         console.log("To fix line numbers in Chrome: " +
@@ -50,6 +51,10 @@ export function initRageshake() {
     return prom;
 }
 
+export function initRageshakeStore() {
+    return rageshake.tryInitStorage();
+}
+
 window.mxSendRageshake = function(text: string, withLogs?: boolean) {
     const url = SdkConfig.get().bug_report_endpoint_url;
     if (!url) {