diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationQueue.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationQueue.java
index e704978..f2d8ec5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationQueue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationQueue.java
@@ -99,7 +99,9 @@
     if (!running) {
       config.startup(workQueue);
       running = true;
-      firePendingEvents();
+      Thread t = new Thread(this::firePendingEvents, "firePendingEvents");
+      t.setDaemon(true);
+      t.start();
       fireBeforeStartupEvents();
     }
   }
@@ -216,6 +218,8 @@
           repLog.error("Encountered malformed URI for persisted event %s", t);
         }
       }
+    } catch (Throwable e) {
+      repLog.error("Unexpected error while firing pending events", e);
     } finally {
       replaying = false;
     }