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 cf344f8..4079df9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationQueue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationQueue.java
@@ -78,7 +78,9 @@
     if (!running) {
       config.startup(workQueue);
       running = true;
-      firePendingEvents();
+      Thread t = new Thread(this::firePendingEvents, "firePendingEvents");
+      t.setDaemon(true);
+      t.start();
       fireBeforeStartupEvents();
     }
   }
@@ -196,6 +198,8 @@
           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;
     }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/cmd-start.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/cmd-start.md
index 8291421..e12ec92 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/cmd-start.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/cmd-start.md
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@
 ssh -p @SSH_PORT@ @SSH_HOST@ @PLUGIN@ start
   [--now]
   [--wait]
-  [--url <PATTERN>]
-  {--all | <PROJECT PATTERN> ...}
+  {--url <PATTERN> | [--url <PATTERN>] --all | [--url <PATTERN>] <PROJECT PATTERN> ...}
 ```
 
 DESCRIPTION