diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8e7ef27..c8ac4b4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 # Gerrit high-availability plugin
 
 This plugin allows deploying a cluster of multiple Gerrit masters
-on the same data-center sharing the same ReviewDb and Git repositories.
+on the same data-center sharing the same Git repositories.
 
 Requirements for the Gerrit masters are:
 
 - Gerrit v2.14.20 or later
 - Externally mounted filesystem shared among the cluster
-- ReviewDb on an external DataBase Server
 - Load-balancer (HAProxy or similar)
 
 ## License
@@ -25,12 +24,12 @@
 `gerrit-02.mycompany.com`, listening on the HTTP port 8080, with a shared volume
 mounted under `/shared`, see below the minimal configuration steps.
 
-1. Install one Gerrit master on the first node (e.g. `gerrit-01.mycompany.com`) using an external
-   ReviewDb on a DB server and the repositories location under the shared volume (e.g. `/shared/git`).
-   Init the site in order to create the DB Schema and the initial repositories.
+1. Install one Gerrit master on the first node (e.g. `gerrit-01.mycompany.com`)
+   with the repositories location under the shared volume (e.g. `/shared/git`).
+   Init the site in order to create the initial repositories.
 
 2. Copy all the files of the first Gerrit master onto the second node (e.g. `gerrit-02.mycompany.com`)
-   so that it points to the same ReviewDb and the same repositories location.
+   so that it points to the same repositories location.
 
 3. Install the high-availability plugin into the `$GERRIT_SITE/plugins` directory of both
    the Gerrit servers.
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/autoreindex/IndexTs.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/autoreindex/IndexTs.java
index 561bb19..b4db602 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/autoreindex/IndexTs.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/autoreindex/IndexTs.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.file.FileSnapshot;
 
 @Singleton
 public class IndexTs
@@ -62,15 +63,17 @@
 
   class FlusherRunner implements Runnable {
     private final AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.IndexName index;
+    private final Path tsPath;
+    private FileSnapshot tsPathSnapshot;
 
     @Override
     public void run() {
+      reloadIndexTimeStampIfChanged();
       LocalDateTime latestTs = getIndexTimeStamp();
       Optional<LocalDateTime> currTs = getUpdateTs(index);
       if (!currTs.isPresent() || latestTs.isAfter(currTs.get())) {
-        Path indexTsFile = dataDir.resolve(index.name().toLowerCase());
         try {
-          Files.write(indexTsFile, latestTs.format(formatter).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+          Files.write(tsPath, latestTs.format(formatter).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
         } catch (IOException e) {
           log.atSevere().withCause(e).log("Unable to update last timestamp for index %s", index);
         }
@@ -79,6 +82,8 @@
 
     FlusherRunner(AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.IndexName index) {
       this.index = index;
+      this.tsPath = getIndexTsPath(index);
+      this.tsPathSnapshot = FileSnapshot.save(tsPath.toFile());
     }
 
     private LocalDateTime getIndexTimeStamp() {
@@ -95,6 +100,31 @@
           throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported index " + index);
       }
     }
+
+    private void reloadIndexTimeStampIfChanged() {
+      if (tsPathSnapshot.isModified(tsPath.toFile())) {
+        getUpdateTs(index).ifPresent(this::setIndexTimeStamp);
+      }
+    }
+
+    private void setIndexTimeStamp(LocalDateTime newTs) {
+      switch (index) {
+        case CHANGE:
+          changeTs = newTs;
+          break;
+        case GROUP:
+          groupTs = newTs;
+          break;
+        case ACCOUNT:
+          accountTs = newTs;
+          break;
+        case PROJECT:
+          projectTs = newTs;
+          break;
+      }
+
+      tsPathSnapshot = FileSnapshot.save(tsPath.toFile());
+    }
   }
 
   @Inject
@@ -152,7 +182,7 @@
 
   public Optional<LocalDateTime> getUpdateTs(AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.IndexName index) {
     try {
-      Path indexTsFile = dataDir.resolve(index.name().toLowerCase());
+      Path indexTsFile = getIndexTsPath(index);
       if (indexTsFile.toFile().exists()) {
         String tsString = Files.readAllLines(indexTsFile).get(0);
         return Optional.of(LocalDateTime.parse(tsString, formatter));
@@ -185,4 +215,8 @@
         throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported index " + index);
     }
   }
+
+  private Path getIndexTsPath(AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.IndexName index) {
+    return dataDir.resolve(index.name().toLowerCase());
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java
index 91e5a02..770259d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.index.ForwardedIndexExecutor;
 import com.google.common.base.Splitter;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Change;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.exceptions.StorageException;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.index.change.ChangeIndexer;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.notedb.ChangeNotes;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
@@ -157,7 +159,15 @@
   }
 
   private static Change.Id parseChangeId(String id) {
-    return Change.id(Integer.parseInt(Splitter.on("~").splitToList(id).get(1)));
+    return Change.id(Integer.parseInt(getChangeIdParts(id).get(1)));
+  }
+
+  private static Project.NameKey parseProject(String id) {
+    return Project.nameKey(getChangeIdParts(id).get(0));
+  }
+
+  private static List<String> getChangeIdParts(String id) {
+    return Splitter.on("~").splitToList(id);
   }
 
   private static boolean isCausedByNoSuchChangeException(Throwable throwable) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.java
index f9ec516..6b23588 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/AbstractIndexRestApiServlet.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.forwarder.ForwardedIndexingHandler.Operation;
 import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.forwarder.IndexEvent;
 import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.cache.PerThreadCache;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.events.EventGson;
 import com.google.gson.Gson;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@
 import java.io.Reader;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequestWrapper;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
 public abstract class AbstractIndexRestApiServlet<T> extends AbstractRestApiServlet {
@@ -88,7 +90,26 @@
     setHeaders(rsp);
     String path = req.getRequestURI();
     T id = parse(path.substring(path.lastIndexOf('/') + 1));
-    try {
+
+    /**
+     * Since [1] the change notes /meta refs are cached for all the incoming GET/HEAD REST APIs;
+     * however, the high-availability indexing API is a POST served by a regular servlet and
+     * therefore won't have any caching, which is problematic because of the high number of
+     * associated refs lookups generated.
+     *
+     * <p>Simulate an incoming GET request for allowing caching of the /meta refs lookups.
+     *
+     * <p>[1] https://gerrit-review.googlesource.com/c/gerrit/+/334539/17
+     */
+    HttpServletRequestWrapper simulatedGetRequestForCaching =
+        new HttpServletRequestWrapper(req) {
+          @Override
+          public String getMethod() {
+            return "GET";
+          }
+        };
+
+    try (PerThreadCache unused = PerThreadCache.create(simulatedGetRequestForCaching)) {
       forwardedIndexingHandler.index(id, operation, parseBody(req));
       rsp.setStatus(SC_NO_CONTENT);
     } catch (IOException e) {
diff --git a/src/test/docker/docker-compose.yaml b/src/test/docker/docker-compose.yaml
index 647aa6d..1365cd8 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/src/test/docker/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     volumes:
       - syslog-sidecar
     depends_on:
+      - syslog-sidecar
       - gerrit-01
       - gerrit-02
 
diff --git a/src/test/docker/haproxy/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/haproxy/Dockerfile
index 72cad4a..eb5920a 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/haproxy/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/haproxy/Dockerfile
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
-FROM haproxy:1.8
+FROM haproxy:1.8.30-buster
+
+RUN mkdir -p /var/run/haproxy && chown -R haproxy: /var/run/haproxy
 
 COPY haproxy.cfg /usr/local/etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg
-
-RUN mkdir /var/lib/haproxy && \
-    mkdir /var/run/haproxy && \
-    useradd haproxy && \
-    chown haproxy: /var/lib/haproxy /var/run/haproxy