diff --git a/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird.go b/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird.go
index 306201d07..13d386da2 100644
--- a/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird.go
+++ b/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird.go
@@ -182,6 +182,10 @@ type NetBird struct {
 	// (i.e. when a new client was actually created, not when an existing one
 	// was reused). The duration covers keygen + gRPC CreateProxyPeer + embed.New.
 	OnAddPeer func(d time.Duration, err error)
+
+	// startClient runs the post-create client startup. Nil uses runClientStartup;
+	// tests override it to avoid a real embed client.Start.
+	startClient func(accountID types.AccountID, client *embed.Client)
 }
 
 // ClientDebugInfo contains debug information about a client.
@@ -211,28 +215,15 @@ func (n *NetBird) AddPeer(ctx context.Context, accountID types.AccountID, key Se
 
 	lifecycle := n.accountLifecycle(accountID)
 	lifecycle.Lock()
-
-	entry, err := n.createClientLocked(ctx, accountID, key, authToken, si)
-	if entry == nil || err != nil {
-		lifecycle.Unlock()
-		return err
-	}
-
-	go func() {
-		defer lifecycle.Unlock()
-		n.runClientStartup(accountID, entry.client)
+	transferred := false
+	defer func() {
+		if !transferred {
+			lifecycle.Unlock()
+		}
 	}()
 
-	return nil
-}
-
-// createClientLocked re-checks for a concurrently-created client and creates a
-// new one. The caller must hold the account's lifecycle lock. A nil entry means
-// another caller won the race and the service was registered against the
-// existing client.
-func (n *NetBird) createClientLocked(ctx context.Context, accountID types.AccountID, key ServiceKey, authToken string, si serviceInfo) (*clientEntry, error) {
 	if n.registerExistingClient(accountID, key, si) {
-		return nil, nil
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	createStart := time.Now()
@@ -241,7 +232,7 @@ func (n *NetBird) createClientLocked(ctx context.Context, accountID types.Accoun
 		n.OnAddPeer(time.Since(createStart), err)
 	}
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
 
 	n.clientsMux.Lock()
@@ -253,7 +244,21 @@ func (n *NetBird) createClientLocked(ctx context.Context, accountID types.Accoun
 		"service_key": key,
 	}).Info("created new client for account")
 
-	return entry, nil
+	transferred = true
+	go func() {
+		defer lifecycle.Unlock()
+		n.startClientStartup(accountID, entry.client)
+	}()
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (n *NetBird) startClientStartup(accountID types.AccountID, client *embed.Client) {
+	if n.startClient != nil {
+		n.startClient(accountID, client)
+		return
+	}
+	n.runClientStartup(accountID, client)
 }
 
 // registerExistingClient registers the service against an already-present
diff --git a/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird_test.go b/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird_test.go
index 8aa7a651c..700cca83e 100644
--- a/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird_test.go
+++ b/proxy/internal/roundtrip/netbird_test.go
@@ -65,11 +65,15 @@ func (m *mockStatusNotifier) calls() []statusCall {
 // mockNetBird creates a NetBird instance for testing without actually connecting.
 // It uses an invalid management URL to prevent real connections.
 func mockNetBird() *NetBird {
-	return NewNetBird(context.Background(), "test-proxy", "invalid.test", ClientConfig{
+	nb := NewNetBird(context.Background(), "test-proxy", "invalid.test", ClientConfig{
 		MgmtAddr:     "http://invalid.test:9999",
 		WGPort:       0,
 		PreSharedKey: "",
 	}, nil, nil, &mockMgmtClient{})
+	// Skip the real embed client.Start, which would hang against the unreachable
+	// mgmt URL and (now that the lifecycle lock spans startup) serialise removes.
+	nb.startClient = func(types.AccountID, *embed.Client) {}
+	return nb
 }
 
 func TestNetBird_AddPeer_CreatesClientForNewAccount(t *testing.T) {
@@ -301,6 +305,7 @@ func TestNetBird_AddPeer_ExistingStartedClient_NotifiesStatus(t *testing.T) {
 		WGPort:       0,
 		PreSharedKey: "",
 	}, nil, notifier, &mockMgmtClient{})
+	nb.startClient = func(types.AccountID, *embed.Client) {}
 	accountID := types.AccountID("account-1")
 
 	// Add first service — creates a new client entry.
@@ -445,6 +450,7 @@ func TestNetBird_AddPeer_WaitsForTeardown(t *testing.T) {
 	nb := NewNetBird(context.Background(), "test-proxy", "invalid.test", ClientConfig{
 		MgmtAddr: "http://invalid.test:9999",
 	}, nil, &mockStatusNotifier{}, &mockMgmtClient{})
+	nb.startClient = func(types.AccountID, *embed.Client) {}
 
 	accountID := types.AccountID("acct-serialize")
 	key := DomainServiceKey("svc.example")