diff --git a/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.cpp b/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.cpp
index a9b4426c59..65a9212658 100644
--- a/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.cpp
+++ b/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.cpp
@@ -3,29 +3,22 @@
 #include "history/HistoryManager.h"
 #include "ledger/LedgerManager.h"
 #include "main/Application.h"
+#include "main/ErrorMessages.h"
 #include "util/XDRStream.h"
 
 namespace stellar
 {
-bool
+void
 CheckpointBuilder::ensureOpen(uint32_t ledgerSeq)
 {
     ZoneScoped;
     releaseAssert(mApp.getHistoryArchiveManager().publishEnabled());
+    mSkipFirstCheckpointSinceItIsIncomplete = false;
     if (!mOpen)
     {
         releaseAssert(!mTxResults);
         releaseAssert(!mTxs);
         releaseAssert(!mLedgerHeaders);
-        // Don't start writing checkpoint until proper checkpoint boundary
-        // This can occur if a node enabled publish mid-checkpoint
-        if (mPublishWasDisabled && !HistoryManager::isFirstLedgerInCheckpoint(
-                                       ledgerSeq, mApp.getConfig()))
-        {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        mPublishWasDisabled = false;
 
         auto checkpoint = HistoryManager::checkpointContainingLedger(
             ledgerSeq, mApp.getConfig());
@@ -50,7 +43,6 @@ CheckpointBuilder::ensureOpen(uint32_t ledgerSeq)
         mLedgerHeaders->open(ledger.localPath_nogz_dirty());
         mOpen = true;
     }
-    return true;
 }
 
 void
@@ -135,11 +127,15 @@ CheckpointBuilder::appendTransactionSet(uint32_t ledgerSeq,
         throw std::runtime_error("Startup validation not performed");
     }
 
-    if (!ensureOpen(ledgerSeq))
+    // Skip incomplete checkpoint if we're not on the checkpoint boundary
+    if (skipIncompleteFirstCheckpointSinceRestart() &&
+        !HistoryManager::isFirstLedgerInCheckpoint(ledgerSeq, mApp.getConfig()))
     {
         return;
     }
 
+    ensureOpen(ledgerSeq);
+
     if (!resultSet.results.empty())
     {
         TransactionHistoryResultEntry results;
@@ -162,11 +158,16 @@ CheckpointBuilder::appendLedgerHeader(LedgerHeader const& header,
         throw std::runtime_error("Startup validation not performed");
     }
 
-    if (!ensureOpen(header.ledgerSeq))
+    // Skip incomplete checkpoint if we're not on the checkpoint boundary
+    if (skipIncompleteFirstCheckpointSinceRestart() &&
+        !HistoryManager::isFirstLedgerInCheckpoint(header.ledgerSeq,
+                                                   mApp.getConfig()))
     {
         return;
     }
 
+    ensureOpen(header.ledgerSeq);
+
     LedgerHeaderHistoryEntry lhe;
     lhe.header = header;
     lhe.hash = xdrSha256(header);
@@ -239,7 +240,7 @@ CheckpointBuilder::cleanup(uint32_t lcl)
                     fmt::format("Failed to delete next checkpoint file {}",
                                 next.localPath_nogz_dirty()));
             }
-            return;
+            return true;
         }
 
         if (!fs::exists(ft.localPath_nogz_dirty()))
@@ -248,8 +249,7 @@ CheckpointBuilder::cleanup(uint32_t lcl)
                       "Skipping recovery of file {}, does not exist. This can "
                       "occur if publish was previously disabled.",
                       ft.localPath_nogz_dirty());
-            mPublishWasDisabled = true;
-            return;
+            return false;
         }
 
         // Find a tmp file; any potentially invalid files _must_ be tmp files,
@@ -263,32 +263,24 @@ CheckpointBuilder::cleanup(uint32_t lcl)
             out.open(tmpFile.string());
             XDRInputFileStream in;
             in.open(ft.localPath_nogz_dirty());
-            uint32_t lastReadLedgerSeq = 0;
+            uint32_t lastWrittenLedgerSeq = 0;
             while (in)
             {
                 try
                 {
                     if (!in.readOne(entry))
                     {
-                        // If file doesn't end on LCL, it's corrupt
-                        if (enforceLCL && lastReadLedgerSeq != lcl)
-                        {
-                            throw std::runtime_error(
-                                fmt::format("Corrupt checkpoint file {}, ends "
-                                            "on ledger {}, LCL is {}",
-                                            ft.localPath_nogz_dirty(),
-                                            getLedgerSeq(entry), lcl));
-                        }
                         break;
                     }
-                    lastReadLedgerSeq = getLedgerSeq(entry);
-                    if (lastReadLedgerSeq > lcl)
+                    auto seq = getLedgerSeq(entry);
+                    if (seq > lcl)
                     {
                         CLOG_INFO(History, "Truncating {} at ledger {}",
                                   ft.localPath_nogz_dirty(), lcl);
                         break;
                     }
                     out.durableWriteOne(entry);
+                    lastWrittenLedgerSeq = seq;
                 }
                 catch (xdr::xdr_runtime_error const& e)
                 {
@@ -300,6 +292,16 @@ CheckpointBuilder::cleanup(uint32_t lcl)
                     break;
                 }
             }
+
+            // Once we finished truncating, check that we ended on LCL.
+            // If file doesn't end on LCL, it's corrupt
+            if (enforceLCL && lastWrittenLedgerSeq != lcl)
+            {
+                throw std::runtime_error(fmt::format(
+                    "Corrupt checkpoint file {}, ends "
+                    "on ledger {}, LCL is {}",
+                    ft.localPath_nogz_dirty(), lastWrittenLedgerSeq, lcl));
+            }
         }
 
         if (!fs::durableRename(
@@ -308,13 +310,37 @@ CheckpointBuilder::cleanup(uint32_t lcl)
         {
             throw std::runtime_error("Failed to rename checkpoint file");
         }
+
+        return true;
     };
 
     // We can only require ledger header to be at LCL; transactions and results
     // can have gaps (if there were empty ledgers)
-    recover(res, TransactionHistoryResultEntry{}, /* enforceLCL */ false);
-    recover(txs, TransactionHistoryEntry{}, /* enforceLCL */ false);
-    recover(ledger, LedgerHeaderHistoryEntry{}, /* enforceLCL */ true);
+    auto resExists =
+        recover(res, TransactionHistoryResultEntry{}, /* enforceLCL */ false);
+    auto txExists =
+        recover(txs, TransactionHistoryEntry{}, /* enforceLCL */ false);
+    auto headerExists =
+        recover(ledger, LedgerHeaderHistoryEntry{}, /* enforceLCL */ true);
+
+    if (!resExists && !txExists && !headerExists)
+    {
+        mSkipFirstCheckpointSinceItIsIncomplete = true;
+        CLOG_INFO(History, "No checkpoint files found during recovery, likely "
+                           "publish was previously disabled");
+    }
+    else if (!(resExists && txExists && headerExists))
+    {
+        std::string errMsg =
+            fmt::format("Some checkpoint files were not found during recovery, "
+                        "results={}, transactions={}, headers={}.",
+                        resExists, txExists, headerExists);
+        CLOG_ERROR(History, "{}", errMsg);
+        CLOG_ERROR(History, "Delete incomplete checkpoint files and restart.");
+        CLOG_ERROR(History, "{}", REPORT_INTERNAL_BUG);
+        throw std::runtime_error(errMsg);
+    }
+
     mStartupValidationComplete = true;
 }
 }
diff --git a/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.h b/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.h
index 50f03e73d2..63aa22b2c7 100644
--- a/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.h
+++ b/src/history/CheckpointBuilder.h
@@ -57,9 +57,11 @@ class CheckpointBuilder
     std::unique_ptr<XDROutputFileStream> mLedgerHeaders;
     bool mOpen{false};
     bool mStartupValidationComplete{false};
-    bool mPublishWasDisabled{false};
+    // Skip building this checkpoint if it can't be completed.
+    // This may happen if a node enabled publishing mid-checkpoint.
+    bool mSkipFirstCheckpointSinceItIsIncomplete{false};
 
-    bool ensureOpen(uint32_t ledgerSeq);
+    void ensureOpen(uint32_t ledgerSeq);
 
   public:
     CheckpointBuilder(Application& app);
@@ -82,5 +84,11 @@ class CheckpointBuilder
     // Finalize checkpoint by renaming all temporary files to their canonical
     // names. No-op if files are already rotated.
     void checkpointComplete(uint32_t checkpoint);
+
+    bool
+    skipIncompleteFirstCheckpointSinceRestart() const
+    {
+        return mSkipFirstCheckpointSinceItIsIncomplete;
+    }
 };
 }
diff --git a/src/history/HistoryManagerImpl.cpp b/src/history/HistoryManagerImpl.cpp
index a9d43bbfaf..4bbc6f8c92 100644
--- a/src/history/HistoryManagerImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/history/HistoryManagerImpl.cpp
@@ -316,6 +316,14 @@ HistoryManagerImpl::maybeQueueHistoryCheckpoint(uint32_t lcl,
         return false;
     }
 
+    if (mCheckpointBuilder.skipIncompleteFirstCheckpointSinceRestart())
+    {
+        CLOG_INFO(
+            History,
+            "Skipping incomplete checkpoint, publish was previously disabled");
+        return false;
+    }
+
     queueCurrentHistory(lcl, ledgerVers);
     return true;
 }