diff --git a/daemons/attrd/pacemaker-attrd.c b/daemons/attrd/pacemaker-attrd.c
index 7e0e15c1ab..217058ea0d 100644
--- a/daemons/attrd/pacemaker-attrd.c
+++ b/daemons/attrd/pacemaker-attrd.c
@@ -1,334 +1,342 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2013-2023 the Pacemaker project contributors
  *
  * The version control history for this file may have further details.
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
  * or later (GPLv2+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
  */
 
 #include <crm_internal.h>
 
 #include <sys/param.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 
 #include <crm/crm.h>
 #include <crm/cib/internal.h>
 #include <crm/msg_xml.h>
 #include <crm/pengine/rules.h>
 #include <crm/common/cmdline_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/iso8601.h>
 #include <crm/common/ipc.h>
 #include <crm/common/ipc_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/output_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/xml.h>
 #include <crm/cluster/internal.h>
 
 #include <crm/common/attrd_internal.h>
 #include "pacemaker-attrd.h"
 
 #define SUMMARY "daemon for managing Pacemaker node attributes"
 
 gboolean stand_alone = FALSE;
 
 static GOptionEntry entries[] = {
     { "stand-alone", 's', G_OPTION_FLAG_NONE, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &stand_alone,
       "(Advanced use only) Run in stand-alone mode", NULL },
 
     { NULL }
 };
 
 static pcmk__output_t *out = NULL;
 
 static pcmk__supported_format_t formats[] = {
     PCMK__SUPPORTED_FORMAT_NONE,
     PCMK__SUPPORTED_FORMAT_TEXT,
     PCMK__SUPPORTED_FORMAT_XML,
     { NULL, NULL, NULL }
 };
 
 lrmd_t *the_lrmd = NULL;
 crm_cluster_t *attrd_cluster = NULL;
 crm_trigger_t *attrd_config_read = NULL;
 crm_exit_t attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_OK;
 
 static void
 attrd_cib_destroy_cb(gpointer user_data)
 {
     cib_t *conn = user_data;
 
     conn->cmds->signoff(conn);  /* Ensure IPC is cleaned up */
 
     if (attrd_shutting_down()) {
         crm_info("Connection disconnection complete");
 
     } else {
         /* eventually this should trigger a reconnect, not a shutdown */
         crm_crit("Lost connection to the CIB manager, shutting down");
         attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_DISCONNECT;
         attrd_shutdown(0);
     }
 
     return;
 }
 
 static void
 attrd_erase_cb(xmlNode *msg, int call_id, int rc, xmlNode *output,
                void *user_data)
 {
     do_crm_log_unlikely((rc? LOG_NOTICE : LOG_DEBUG),
                         "Cleared transient attributes: %s "
                         CRM_XS " xpath=%s rc=%d",
                         pcmk_strerror(rc), (char *) user_data, rc);
 }
 
 #define XPATH_TRANSIENT "//node_state[@uname='%s']/" XML_TAG_TRANSIENT_NODEATTRS
 
 /*!
  * \internal
  * \brief Wipe all transient attributes for this node from the CIB
  *
  * Clear any previous transient node attributes from the CIB. This is
  * normally done by the DC's controller when this node leaves the cluster, but
  * this handles the case where the node restarted so quickly that the
  * cluster layer didn't notice.
  *
  * \todo If pacemaker-attrd respawns after crashing (see PCMK_respawned),
  *       ideally we'd skip this and sync our attributes from the writer.
  *       However, currently we reject any values for us that the writer has, in
  *       attrd_peer_update().
  */
 static void
 attrd_erase_attrs(void)
 {
     int call_id;
     char *xpath = crm_strdup_printf(XPATH_TRANSIENT, attrd_cluster->uname);
 
     crm_info("Clearing transient attributes from CIB " CRM_XS " xpath=%s",
              xpath);
 
     call_id = the_cib->cmds->remove(the_cib, xpath, NULL,
                                     cib_quorum_override | cib_xpath);
     the_cib->cmds->register_callback_full(the_cib, call_id, 120, FALSE, xpath,
                                           "attrd_erase_cb", attrd_erase_cb,
                                           free);
 }
 
 static int
 attrd_cib_connect(int max_retry)
 {
     static int attempts = 0;
 
     int rc = -ENOTCONN;
 
     the_cib = cib_new();
     if (the_cib == NULL) {
         return -ENOTCONN;
     }
 
     do {
         if(attempts > 0) {
             sleep(attempts);
         }
 
         attempts++;
         crm_debug("Connection attempt %d to the CIB manager", attempts);
         rc = the_cib->cmds->signon(the_cib, T_ATTRD, cib_command);
 
     } while(rc != pcmk_ok && attempts < max_retry);
 
     if (rc != pcmk_ok) {
         crm_err("Connection to the CIB manager failed: %s " CRM_XS " rc=%d",
                 pcmk_strerror(rc), rc);
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
     crm_debug("Connected to the CIB manager after %d attempts", attempts);
 
     rc = the_cib->cmds->set_connection_dnotify(the_cib, attrd_cib_destroy_cb);
     if (rc != pcmk_ok) {
         crm_err("Could not set disconnection callback");
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
     rc = the_cib->cmds->add_notify_callback(the_cib, T_CIB_REPLACE_NOTIFY, attrd_cib_replaced_cb);
     if(rc != pcmk_ok) {
         crm_err("Could not set CIB notification callback");
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
     rc = the_cib->cmds->add_notify_callback(the_cib, T_CIB_DIFF_NOTIFY, attrd_cib_updated_cb);
     if (rc != pcmk_ok) {
         crm_err("Could not set CIB notification callback (update)");
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
     return pcmk_ok;
 
   cleanup:
     cib__clean_up_connection(&the_cib);
     return -ENOTCONN;
 }
 
 /*!
  * \internal
  * \brief Prepare the CIB after cluster is connected
  */
 static void
 attrd_cib_init(void)
 {
     // We have no attribute values in memory, wipe the CIB to match
     attrd_erase_attrs();
 
     // Set a trigger for reading the CIB (for the alerts section)
     attrd_config_read = mainloop_add_trigger(G_PRIORITY_HIGH, attrd_read_options, NULL);
 
     // Always read the CIB at start-up
     mainloop_set_trigger(attrd_config_read);
 }
 
 static bool
 ipc_already_running(void)
 {
     pcmk_ipc_api_t *old_instance = NULL;
     int rc = pcmk_rc_ok;
 
     rc = pcmk_new_ipc_api(&old_instance, pcmk_ipc_attrd);
     if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
         return false;
     }
 
     rc = pcmk_connect_ipc(old_instance, pcmk_ipc_dispatch_sync);
     if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
         pcmk_free_ipc_api(old_instance);
         return false;
     }
 
     pcmk_disconnect_ipc(old_instance);
     pcmk_free_ipc_api(old_instance);
     return true;
 }
 
 static GOptionContext *
 build_arg_context(pcmk__common_args_t *args, GOptionGroup **group) {
     GOptionContext *context = NULL;
 
     context = pcmk__build_arg_context(args, "text (default), xml", group, NULL);
     pcmk__add_main_args(context, entries);
     return context;
 }
 
 int
 main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int rc = pcmk_rc_ok;
 
     GError *error = NULL;
     bool initialized = false;
 
     GOptionGroup *output_group = NULL;
     pcmk__common_args_t *args = pcmk__new_common_args(SUMMARY);
     gchar **processed_args = pcmk__cmdline_preproc(argv, NULL);
     GOptionContext *context = build_arg_context(args, &output_group);
 
     attrd_init_mainloop();
     crm_log_preinit(NULL, argc, argv);
     mainloop_add_signal(SIGTERM, attrd_shutdown);
 
     pcmk__register_formats(output_group, formats);
     if (!g_option_context_parse_strv(context, &processed_args, &error)) {
         attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_USAGE;
         goto done;
     }
 
     rc = pcmk__output_new(&out, args->output_ty, args->output_dest, argv);
     if ((rc != pcmk_rc_ok) || (out == NULL)) {
         attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_ERROR;
         g_set_error(&error, PCMK__EXITC_ERROR, attrd_exit_status,
                     "Error creating output format %s: %s",
                     args->output_ty, pcmk_rc_str(rc));
         goto done;
     }
 
     if (args->version) {
         out->version(out, false);
         goto done;
     }
 
-    initialized = true;
-
     crm_log_init(T_ATTRD, LOG_INFO, TRUE, FALSE, argc, argv, FALSE);
     crm_notice("Starting Pacemaker node attribute manager%s",
                stand_alone ? " in standalone mode" : "");
 
     if (ipc_already_running()) {
-        crm_err("pacemaker-attrd is already active, aborting startup");
-        crm_exit(CRM_EX_OK);
+        const char *msg = "pacemaker-attrd is already active, aborting startup";
+
+        attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_OK;
+        g_set_error(&error, PCMK__EXITC_ERROR, attrd_exit_status, "%s", msg);
+        crm_err(msg);
+        goto done;
     }
 
+    initialized = true;
+
     attributes = pcmk__strkey_table(NULL, attrd_free_attribute);
 
     /* Connect to the CIB before connecting to the cluster or listening for IPC.
      * This allows us to assume the CIB is connected whenever we process a
      * cluster or IPC message (which also avoids start-up race conditions).
      */
     if (attrd_cib_connect(30) != pcmk_ok) {
         attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_FATAL;
+        g_set_error(&error, PCMK__EXITC_ERROR, attrd_exit_status,
+                    "Could not connect to the CIB");
         goto done;
     }
     crm_info("CIB connection active");
 
     if (attrd_cluster_connect() != pcmk_ok) {
         attrd_exit_status = CRM_EX_FATAL;
+        g_set_error(&error, PCMK__EXITC_ERROR, attrd_exit_status,
+                    "Could not connect to the cluster");
         goto done;
     }
     crm_info("Cluster connection active");
 
     // Initialization that requires the cluster to be connected
     attrd_election_init();
     attrd_cib_init();
 
     /* Set a private attribute for ourselves with the protocol version we
      * support. This lets all nodes determine the minimum supported version
      * across all nodes. It also ensures that the writer learns our node name,
      * so it can send our attributes to the CIB.
      */
     attrd_broadcast_protocol();
 
     attrd_init_ipc();
     crm_notice("Pacemaker node attribute manager successfully started and accepting connections");
     attrd_run_mainloop();
 
   done:
     if (initialized) {
         crm_info("Shutting down attribute manager");
 
         attrd_election_fini();
         attrd_ipc_fini();
         attrd_lrmd_disconnect();
         attrd_cib_disconnect();
         attrd_free_waitlist();
 
         pcmk_cluster_free(attrd_cluster);
         g_hash_table_destroy(attributes);
     }
 
     g_strfreev(processed_args);
     pcmk__free_arg_context(context);
 
     pcmk__output_and_clear_error(error, out);
 
     if (out != NULL) {
         out->finish(out, attrd_exit_status, true, NULL);
         pcmk__output_free(out);
     }
     pcmk__unregister_formats();
     crm_exit(attrd_exit_status);
 }