diff --git a/changelog.d/19036.misc b/changelog.d/19036.misc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..95b8daab9b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/19036.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Move `start_doing_background_updates()` to `SynapseHomeServer.start_background_tasks()`.
diff --git a/synapse/app/homeserver.py b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
index 8d9b76e083c..b9ac86c2fc3 100644
--- a/synapse/app/homeserver.py
+++ b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
@@ -317,6 +317,11 @@ def start_listening(self) -> None:
                 # during parsing
                 logger.warning("Unrecognized listener type: %s", listener.type)
 
+    def start_background_tasks(self) -> None:
+        super().start_background_tasks()
+
+        self.get_datastores().main.db_pool.updates.start_doing_background_updates()
+
 
 def load_or_generate_config(argv_options: List[str]) -> HomeServerConfig:
     """
@@ -430,11 +435,6 @@ async def _start_when_reactor_running() -> None:
 
         await _base.start(hs, freeze)
 
-        # TODO: This should be moved to `SynapseHomeServer.start_background_tasks` (not
-        # `HomeServer.start_background_tasks`) (this way it matches the behavior of only
-        # running on `main`)
-        hs.get_datastores().main.db_pool.updates.start_doing_background_updates()
-
     # Register a callback to be invoked once the reactor is running
     register_start(hs, _start_when_reactor_running)