diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index d19ca530b..beb848ddb 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
         strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-limitdescendantcount=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions if any ancestor would have <n> or more in-mempool descendants (default: %u)", DEFAULT_DESCENDANT_LIMIT));
         strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-limitdescendantsize=<n>", strprintf("Do not accept transactions if any ancestor would have more than <n> kilobytes of in-mempool descendants (default: %u).", DEFAULT_DESCENDANT_SIZE_LIMIT));
     }
-    string debugCategories = "addrman, alert, bench, coindb, db, lock, rand, rpc, selectcoins, mempool, mempoolrej, net, proxy, prune, http, libevent, tor, zmq"; // Don't translate these and qt below
+    string debugCategories = "addrman, alert, bench, coindb, db, http, libevent, lock, mempool, mempoolrej, net, proxy, prune, rand, reindex, rpc, selectcoins, tor, zmq"; // Don't translate these and qt below
     if (mode == HMM_BITCOIN_QT)
         debugCategories += ", qt";
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-debug=<category>", strprintf(_("Output debugging information (default: %u, supplying <category> is optional)"), 0) + ". " +
@@ -554,9 +554,10 @@ void ThreadImport(std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> vImportFiles)
 {
     const CChainParams& chainparams = Params();
     RenameThread("bitcoin-loadblk");
+    CImportingNow imp;
+
     // -reindex
     if (fReindex) {
-        CImportingNow imp;
         int nFile = 0;
         while (true) {
             CDiskBlockPos pos(nFile, 0);
@@ -581,7 +582,6 @@ void ThreadImport(std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> vImportFiles)
     if (boost::filesystem::exists(pathBootstrap)) {
         FILE *file = fopen(pathBootstrap.string().c_str(), "rb");
         if (file) {
-            CImportingNow imp;
             boost::filesystem::path pathBootstrapOld = GetDataDir() / "bootstrap.dat.old";
             LogPrintf("Importing bootstrap.dat...\n");
             LoadExternalBlockFile(chainparams, file);
@@ -595,7 +595,6 @@ void ThreadImport(std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> vImportFiles)
     BOOST_FOREACH(const boost::filesystem::path& path, vImportFiles) {
         FILE *file = fopen(path.string().c_str(), "rb");
         if (file) {
-            CImportingNow imp;
             LogPrintf("Importing blocks file %s...\n", path.string());
             LoadExternalBlockFile(chainparams, file);
         } else {
@@ -603,6 +602,13 @@ void ThreadImport(std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> vImportFiles)
         }
     }
 
+    // scan for better chains in the block chain database, that are not yet connected in the active best chain
+    CValidationState state;
+    if (!ActivateBestChain(state, chainparams)) {
+        LogPrintf("Failed to connect best block");
+        StartShutdown();
+    }
+
     if (GetBoolArg("-stopafterblockimport", DEFAULT_STOPAFTERBLOCKIMPORT)) {
         LogPrintf("Stopping after block import\n");
         StartShutdown();
@@ -1358,12 +1364,6 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& scheduler)
     if (mapArgs.count("-blocknotify"))
         uiInterface.NotifyBlockTip.connect(BlockNotifyCallback);
 
-    uiInterface.InitMessage(_("Activating best chain..."));
-    // scan for better chains in the block chain database, that are not yet connected in the active best chain
-    CValidationState state;
-    if (!ActivateBestChain(state, chainparams))
-        strErrors << "Failed to connect best block";
-
     std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> vImportFiles;
     if (mapArgs.count("-loadblock"))
     {
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 981d98771..42733ee2d 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -3402,7 +3402,8 @@ static bool AcceptBlock(const CBlock& block, CValidationState& state, const CCha
 {
     AssertLockHeld(cs_main);
 
-    CBlockIndex *&pindex = *ppindex;
+    CBlockIndex *pindexDummy = NULL;
+    CBlockIndex *&pindex = ppindex ? *ppindex : pindexDummy;
 
     if (!AcceptBlockHeader(block, state, chainparams, &pindex))
         return false;
@@ -4037,13 +4038,14 @@ bool LoadExternalBlockFile(const CChainParams& chainparams, FILE* fileIn, CDiskB
 
                 // process in case the block isn't known yet
                 if (mapBlockIndex.count(hash) == 0 || (mapBlockIndex[hash]->nStatus & BLOCK_HAVE_DATA) == 0) {
+                    LOCK(cs_main);
                     CValidationState state;
-                    if (ProcessNewBlock(state, chainparams, NULL, &block, true, dbp))
+                    if (AcceptBlock(block, state, chainparams, NULL, true, dbp))
                         nLoaded++;
                     if (state.IsError())
                         break;
                 } else if (hash != chainparams.GetConsensus().hashGenesisBlock && mapBlockIndex[hash]->nHeight % 1000 == 0) {
-                    LogPrintf("Block Import: already had block %s at height %d\n", hash.ToString(), mapBlockIndex[hash]->nHeight);
+                    LogPrint("reindex", "Block Import: already had block %s at height %d\n", hash.ToString(), mapBlockIndex[hash]->nHeight);
                 }
 
                 // Recursively process earlier encountered successors of this block
@@ -4057,10 +4059,11 @@ bool LoadExternalBlockFile(const CChainParams& chainparams, FILE* fileIn, CDiskB
                         std::multimap<uint256, CDiskBlockPos>::iterator it = range.first;
                         if (ReadBlockFromDisk(block, it->second, chainparams.GetConsensus()))
                         {
-                            LogPrintf("%s: Processing out of order child %s of %s\n", __func__, block.GetHash().ToString(),
+                            LogPrint("reindex", "%s: Processing out of order child %s of %s\n", __func__, block.GetHash().ToString(),
                                     head.ToString());
+                            LOCK(cs_main);
                             CValidationState dummy;
-                            if (ProcessNewBlock(dummy, chainparams, NULL, &block, true, &it->second))
+                            if (AcceptBlock(block, dummy, chainparams, NULL, true, &it->second))
                             {
                                 nLoaded++;
                                 queue.push_back(block.GetHash());