diff --git a/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc b/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
index 63a274f27..d956ac4c2 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ BinaryCacheStore::BinaryCacheStore(const BinaryCacheStoreConfig & config)
     narMagic = sink.s;
 }
 
-void BinaryCacheStore::init()
-{
+kj::Promise<Result<void>> BinaryCacheStore::init()
+try {
     std::string cacheInfoFile = "nix-cache-info";
 
     auto cacheInfo = getFileContents(cacheInfoFile);
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ void BinaryCacheStore::init()
             }
         }
     }
+    co_return result::success();
+} catch (...) {
+    co_return result::current_exception();
 }
 
 void BinaryCacheStore::upsertFile(const std::string & path,
diff --git a/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh b/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
index e3ce627cb..9d921d3b9 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
+++ b/lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public:
 
 public:
 
-    virtual void init() override;
+    virtual kj::Promise<Result<void>> init() override;
 
 private:
 
diff --git a/lix/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc b/lix/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
index 726291c7c..cc4d0aadb 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "lix/libstore/filetransfer.hh"
 #include "lix/libstore/globals.hh"
 #include "lix/libstore/nar-info-disk-cache.hh"
+#include "lix/libutil/result.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
 
@@ -62,15 +63,15 @@ public:
         return cacheUri;
     }
 
-    void init() override
-    {
+    kj::Promise<Result<void>> init() override
+    try {
         // FIXME: do this lazily?
         if (auto cacheInfo = diskCache->upToDateCacheExists(cacheUri)) {
             config_.wantMassQuery.setDefault(cacheInfo->wantMassQuery);
             config_.priority.setDefault(cacheInfo->priority);
         } else {
             try {
-                BinaryCacheStore::init();
+                TRY_AWAIT(BinaryCacheStore::init());
             } catch (UploadToHTTP &) {
                 throw Error("'%s' does not appear to be a binary cache", cacheUri);
             }
@@ -78,6 +79,9 @@ public:
                 cacheUri, config_.storeDir, config_.wantMassQuery, config_.priority
             );
         }
+        co_return result::success();
+    } catch (...) {
+        co_return result::current_exception();
     }
 
     static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes()
diff --git a/lix/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc b/lix/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
index 008f56ef6..1fb0d495a 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "lix/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh"
 #include "lix/libstore/globals.hh"
 #include "lix/libstore/nar-info-disk-cache.hh"
+#include "lix/libutil/result.hh"
 
 #include <atomic>
 
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ public:
     {
     }
 
-    void init() override;
+    kj::Promise<Result<void>> init() override;
 
     std::string getUri() override
     {
@@ -104,14 +105,17 @@ protected:
     }
 };
 
-void LocalBinaryCacheStore::init()
-{
+kj::Promise<Result<void>> LocalBinaryCacheStore::init()
+try {
     createDirs(binaryCacheDir + "/nar");
     createDirs(binaryCacheDir + "/" + realisationsPrefix);
     if (config_.writeDebugInfo)
         createDirs(binaryCacheDir + "/debuginfo");
     createDirs(binaryCacheDir + "/log");
-    BinaryCacheStore::init();
+    TRY_AWAIT(BinaryCacheStore::init());
+    co_return result::success();
+} catch (...) {
+    co_return result::current_exception();
 }
 
 bool LocalBinaryCacheStore::fileExists(const std::string & path)
diff --git a/lix/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc b/lix/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
index eb2927d44..c71d2b491 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include "lix/libstore/globals.hh"
 #include "lix/libutil/compression.hh"
 #include "lix/libstore/filetransfer.hh"
+#include "lix/libutil/result.hh"
 #include "lix/libutil/strings.hh"
 
 #include <aws/core/Aws.h>
@@ -287,17 +288,20 @@ struct S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl : public S3BinaryCacheStore
         return "s3://" + bucketName;
     }
 
-    void init() override
-    {
+    kj::Promise<Result<void>> init() override
+    try {
         if (auto cacheInfo = diskCache->upToDateCacheExists(getUri())) {
             config().wantMassQuery.setDefault(cacheInfo->wantMassQuery);
             config().priority.setDefault(cacheInfo->priority);
         } else {
-            BinaryCacheStore::init();
+            TRY_AWAIT(BinaryCacheStore::init());
             diskCache->createCache(
                 getUri(), config().storeDir, config().wantMassQuery, config().priority
             );
         }
+        co_return result::success();
+    } catch (...) {
+        co_return result::current_exception();
     }
 
     const Stats & getS3Stats() override
diff --git a/lix/libstore/store-api.cc b/lix/libstore/store-api.cc
index 8f2eb231f..cc29985b8 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -1580,7 +1580,7 @@ try {
                 auto store = implem.create(parsedUri.scheme, baseURI, params);
                 if (store) {
                     experimentalFeatureSettings.require(store->config().experimentalFeature());
-                    store->init();
+                    TRY_AWAIT(store->init());
                     store->config().warnUnknownSettings();
                     co_return ref<Store>(store);
                 }
diff --git a/lix/libstore/store-api.hh b/lix/libstore/store-api.hh
index ae8ae1aa0..6ef474e30 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/store-api.hh
+++ b/lix/libstore/store-api.hh
@@ -231,7 +231,10 @@ public:
      * Perform any necessary effectful operation to make the store up and
      * running
      */
-    virtual void init() {};
+    virtual kj::Promise<Result<void>> init()
+    {
+        return {result::success()};
+    }
 
     virtual StoreConfig & config() = 0;
     virtual const StoreConfig & config() const = 0;