diff --git a/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec.cs b/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cead9732c08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+//  <copyright file="TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec.cs" company="Akka.NET Project">
+//      Copyright (C) 2009-2024 Lightbend Inc. <http://www.lightbend.com>
+//      Copyright (C) 2013-2024 .NET Foundation <https://github.com/akkadotnet/akka.net>
+//  </copyright>
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#nullable enable
+using System;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Akka.Actor;
+using Akka.Event;
+using Akka.Routing;
+using Akka.TestKit;
+using FluentAssertions;
+using FsCheck;
+using Xunit;
+using Xunit.Abstractions;
+
+namespace Akka.Tests.Actor;
+
+public class TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec : AkkaSpec
+{
+    public TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec(ITestOutputHelper output) : base(output: output, Akka.Configuration.Config.Empty)
+    {
+        Sys.Log.Info("Starting TimerStartupCrashBugFixSpec");
+    }
+
+    private class TimerActor : UntypedActor, IWithTimers
+    {
+        public sealed class Check
+        {
+            public static Check Instance { get; } = new Check();
+
+            private Check()
+            {
+            }
+        }
+
+        public sealed class Hit
+        {
+            public static Hit Instance { get; } = new Hit();
+
+            private Hit()
+            {
+            }
+        }
+
+        private readonly ILoggingAdapter _log = Context.GetLogger();
+        private int _counter = 0;
+        public ITimerScheduler? Timers { get; set; } = null;
+
+        protected override void PreStart()
+        {
+            Timers?.StartPeriodicTimer("key", Hit.Instance, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1));
+        }
+
+        protected override void OnReceive(object message)
+        {
+            switch (message)
+            {
+                case Check _:
+                    _log.Info("Check received");
+                    Sender.Tell(_counter);
+                    break;
+                case Hit _:
+                    _log.Info("Hit received");
+                    _counter++;
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        protected override void PreRestart(Exception reason, object message)
+        {
+            _log.Error(reason, "Not restarting - shutting down");
+            Context.Stop(Self);
+        }
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task TimerActor_should_not_crash_on_startup()
+    {
+        var actors = Enumerable.Range(0, 10).Select(c => Sys.ActorOf(Props.Create(() => new TimerActor()))).ToList();
+        var watchTasks = actors.Select(actor => actor.WatchAsync()).ToList();
+
+        var i = 0;
+        while (i == 0)
+        {
+            // guarantee that the actor has started and processed a message from scheduler
+            i = await actors[0].Ask<int>(TimerActor.Check.Instance);
+        }
+
+
+        watchTasks.Any(c => c.IsCompleted).Should().BeFalse();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Actor/Scheduler/HashedWheelTimerScheduler.cs b/src/core/Akka/Actor/Scheduler/HashedWheelTimerScheduler.cs
index a746c03bd21..24121e73358 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka/Actor/Scheduler/HashedWheelTimerScheduler.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Actor/Scheduler/HashedWheelTimerScheduler.cs
@@ -147,25 +147,27 @@ private static int NormalizeTicksPerWheel(int ticksPerWheel)
 
         private void Start()
         {
-            if (_workerState == WORKER_STATE_STARTED)
+            // only read the worker state once so it can't be a moving target for else-branch
+            var workerStateRead = _workerState;
+            if (workerStateRead == WORKER_STATE_STARTED)
             {
                 // do nothing
             }
-            else if (_workerState == WORKER_STATE_INIT)
+            else if (workerStateRead == WORKER_STATE_INIT)
             {
                 if (Interlocked.CompareExchange(ref _workerState, WORKER_STATE_STARTED, WORKER_STATE_INIT) == WORKER_STATE_INIT)
                 {
                     _timer ??= new PeriodicTimer(_timerDuration);
-                    Task.Run(() => RunAsync(_cts.Token)); // start the clock
+                    Task.Run(() => RunAsync(_cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false)); // start the clock
                 }
             }
-            else if (_workerState == WORKER_STATE_SHUTDOWN)
+            else if (workerStateRead == WORKER_STATE_SHUTDOWN)
             {
                 throw new SchedulerException("cannot enqueue after timer shutdown");
             }
             else
             {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Worker in invalid state: {_workerState}");
+                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Worker in invalid state: {workerStateRead}");
             }
 
             if(_startTime == 0)