diff --git a/api/src/org/labkey/api/action/SpringActionController.java b/api/src/org/labkey/api/action/SpringActionController.java
index 793152567e1..b1ca4d87521 100644
--- a/api/src/org/labkey/api/action/SpringActionController.java
+++ b/api/src/org/labkey/api/action/SpringActionController.java
@@ -1280,7 +1280,7 @@ else if (SimpleRedirectAction.class.isAssignableFrom(actionClass) || SimpleViewA
                 return;
 
             // Checking this late in the game to ensure OptionalFeatureService has been initialized.
-            if (OptionalFeatureService.get().isFeatureEnabled(ALLOW_MUTATING_SQL_VIA_GET))
+            if (!ModuleLoader.getInstance().isStartupComplete() || OptionalFeatureService.get().isFeatureEnabled(ALLOW_MUTATING_SQL_VIA_GET))
                 return;
 
             // Note: This defers the mutating SQL parsing & detection until after the quick checks above