diff --git a/src/aof.c b/src/aof.c
index 468d577f8..a89142b30 100644
--- a/src/aof.c
+++ b/src/aof.c
@@ -976,18 +976,6 @@ void stopAppendOnly(void) {
 int startAppendOnly(void) {
     serverAssert(server.aof_state == AOF_OFF);
 
-    /* Wait for all bio jobs related to AOF to drain. This prevents a race
-     * between updates to `fsynced_reploff_pending` of the worker thread, belonging
-     * to the previous AOF, and the new one. This concern is specific for a full
-     * sync scenario where we don't wanna risk the ACKed replication offset
-     * jumping backwards or forward when switching to a different master. */
-    bioDrainWorker(BIO_AOF_FSYNC);
-
-    /* Set the initial repl_offset, which will be applied to fsynced_reploff
-     * when AOFRW finishes (after possibly being updated by a bio thread) */
-    atomicSet(server.fsynced_reploff_pending, server.master_repl_offset);
-    server.fsynced_reploff = 0;
-
     server.aof_state = AOF_WAIT_REWRITE;
     if (hasActiveChildProcess() && server.child_type != CHILD_TYPE_AOF) {
         server.aof_rewrite_scheduled = 1;
@@ -2454,7 +2442,23 @@ int rewriteAppendOnlyFileBackground(void) {
         server.aof_lastbgrewrite_status = C_ERR;
         return C_ERR;
     }
+
+    if (server.aof_state == AOF_WAIT_REWRITE) {
+        /* Wait for all bio jobs related to AOF to drain. This prevents a race
+         * between updates to `fsynced_reploff_pending` of the worker thread, belonging
+         * to the previous AOF, and the new one. This concern is specific for a full
+         * sync scenario where we don't wanna risk the ACKed replication offset
+         * jumping backwards or forward when switching to a different master. */
+        bioDrainWorker(BIO_AOF_FSYNC);
+
+        /* Set the initial repl_offset, which will be applied to fsynced_reploff
+         * when AOFRW finishes (after possibly being updated by a bio thread) */
+        atomicSet(server.fsynced_reploff_pending, server.master_repl_offset);
+        server.fsynced_reploff = 0;
+    }
+
     server.stat_aof_rewrites++;
+
     if ((childpid = redisFork(CHILD_TYPE_AOF)) == 0) {
         char tmpfile[256];
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/wait.tcl b/tests/unit/wait.tcl
index 8c6010afb..bd0bcedc2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/wait.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/wait.tcl
@@ -140,6 +140,37 @@ tags {"wait aof network external:skip"} {
             assert_error {ERR WAITAOF cannot be used when numlocal is set but appendonly is disabled.} {$master waitaof 1 0 0}
         }
 
+        test {WAITAOF local if AOFRW was postponed} {
+            r config set appendfsync everysec
+
+            # turn off AOF
+            r config set appendonly no
+
+            # create an RDB child that takes a lot of time to run
+            r set x y
+            r config set rdb-key-save-delay 100000000  ;# 100 seconds
+            r bgsave
+            assert_equal [s rdb_bgsave_in_progress] 1
+
+            # turn on AOF
+            r config set appendonly yes
+            assert_equal [s aof_rewrite_scheduled] 1
+
+            # create a write command (to increment master_repl_offset)
+            r set x y
+
+            # reset save_delay and kill RDB child
+            r config set rdb-key-save-delay 0
+            catch {exec kill -9 [get_child_pid 0]}
+
+            # wait for AOF (will unblock after AOFRW finishes)
+            assert_equal [r waitaof 1 0 10000] {1 0}
+
+            # make sure AOFRW finished
+            assert_equal [s aof_rewrite_in_progress] 0
+            assert_equal [s aof_rewrite_scheduled] 0
+        }
+
         $master config set appendonly yes
         waitForBgrewriteaof $master