diff --git a/src/tools/cephfs_mirror/Mirror.cc b/src/tools/cephfs_mirror/Mirror.cc
index edf903b921fb3..784e975fb14f2 100644
--- a/src/tools/cephfs_mirror/Mirror.cc
+++ b/src/tools/cephfs_mirror/Mirror.cc
@@ -318,19 +318,24 @@ void Mirror::handle_enable_mirroring(const Filesystem &filesystem,
 
   std::scoped_lock locker(m_lock);
   auto &mirror_action = m_mirror_actions.at(filesystem);
-  ceph_assert(mirror_action.action_in_progress);
 
-  mirror_action.action_in_progress = false;
-  m_cond.notify_all();
   if (r < 0) {
     derr << ": failed to initialize FSMirror for filesystem=" << filesystem
          << ": " << cpp_strerror(r) << dendl;
+    // since init failed, don't assert, just unset it directly
+    mirror_action.action_in_progress = false;
+    m_cond.notify_all();
     m_service_daemon->add_or_update_fs_attribute(filesystem.fscid,
                                                  SERVICE_DAEMON_MIRROR_ENABLE_FAILED_KEY,
                                                  true);
     return;
   }
 
+  ceph_assert(mirror_action.action_in_progress);
+
+  mirror_action.action_in_progress = false;
+  m_cond.notify_all();
+
   for (auto &peer : peers) {
     mirror_action.fs_mirror->add_peer(peer);
   }
@@ -343,19 +348,24 @@ void Mirror::handle_enable_mirroring(const Filesystem &filesystem, int r) {
 
   std::scoped_lock locker(m_lock);
   auto &mirror_action = m_mirror_actions.at(filesystem);
-  ceph_assert(mirror_action.action_in_progress);
-
-  mirror_action.action_in_progress = false;
-  m_cond.notify_all();
+  
   if (r < 0) {
     derr << ": failed to initialize FSMirror for filesystem=" << filesystem
          << ": " << cpp_strerror(r) << dendl;
+    // since init failed, don't assert, just unset it directly
+    mirror_action.action_in_progress = false;
+    m_cond.notify_all();
     m_service_daemon->add_or_update_fs_attribute(filesystem.fscid,
                                                  SERVICE_DAEMON_MIRROR_ENABLE_FAILED_KEY,
                                                  true);
     return;
   }
 
+  ceph_assert(mirror_action.action_in_progress);
+
+  mirror_action.action_in_progress = false;
+  m_cond.notify_all();
+
   dout(10) << ": Initialized FSMirror for filesystem=" << filesystem << dendl;
 }