diff --git a/lib/charms/mongodb/v0/config_server_interface.py b/lib/charms/mongodb/v0/config_server_interface.py
index 03be994c..44f5b26b 100644
--- a/lib/charms/mongodb/v0/config_server_interface.py
+++ b/lib/charms/mongodb/v0/config_server_interface.py
@@ -318,7 +318,8 @@ def _on_relation_changed(self, event) -> None:
             return
 
         self.charm.status.set_and_share_status(ActiveStatus())
-        self.charm.mongos_initialised = True
+        if self.charm.unit.is_leader():
+            self.charm.mongos_initialised = True
 
     def _on_relation_broken(self, event: RelationBrokenEvent) -> None:
         # Only relation_deparated events can check if scaling down