diff --git a/cmd/litestreamd/main.go b/cmd/litestreamd/main.go
index 81eb2ca..b9b1d29 100644
--- a/cmd/litestreamd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/litestreamd/main.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// Notify user that initialization is done.
-	fmt.Printf("Initialized with %d databases; replication initialized.\n", len(m.DBs))
+	fmt.Printf("Initialized with %d databases.\n", len(m.DBs))
 
 	// Wait for signal to stop program.
 	<-ctx.Done()
diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index aa1cbe2..394d389 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -27,15 +27,12 @@ const (
 
 // DB represents a managed instance of a SQLite database in the file system.
 type DB struct {
-	mu       sync.Mutex
+	mu       sync.RWMutex
 	path     string  // part to database
 	db       *sql.DB // target database
 	rtx      *sql.Tx // long running read transaction
 	pageSize int     // page size, in bytes
 
-	byteOrder    binary.ByteOrder // determined by WAL header magic
-	salt0, salt1 uint32           // read from WAL header
-
 	ctx    context.Context
 	cancel func()
 	wg     sync.WaitGroup
@@ -132,9 +129,45 @@ func (db *DB) CurrentShadowWALPath(generation string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func (db *DB) Open() (err error) {
+	db.wg.Add(1)
+	go func() { defer db.wg.Done(); db.monitor() }()
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Close releases the read lock & closes the database. This method should only
+// be called by tests as it causes the underlying database to be checkpointed.
+func (db *DB) Close() (err error) {
+	if e := db.SoftClose(); e != nil && err == nil {
+		err = e
+	}
+
+	if db.db != nil {
+		if e := db.db.Close(); e != nil && err == nil {
+			err = e
+		}
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+// Init initializes the connection to the database.
+// Skipped if already initialized or if the database file does not exist.
+func (db *DB) Init() (err error) {
 	db.mu.Lock()
 	defer db.mu.Unlock()
 
+	// Exit if already initialized.
+	if db.db != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Exit if no database file exists.
+	if _, err := os.Stat(db.path); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// Connect to SQLite database & enable WAL.
 	if db.db, err = sql.Open("sqlite3", db.path); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -142,6 +175,11 @@ func (db *DB) Open() (err error) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("enable wal: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Disable autocheckpoint.
+	if _, err := db.db.ExecContext(db.ctx, `PRAGMA wal_autocheckpoint = 0;`); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("disable autocheckpoint: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	// Create a table to force writes to the WAL when empty.
 	// There should only ever be one row with id=1.
 	if _, err := db.db.Exec(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS _litestream_seq (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, seq INTEGER);`); err != nil {
@@ -177,9 +215,6 @@ func (db *DB) Open() (err error) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("clean: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	db.wg.Add(1)
-	go func() { defer db.wg.Done(); db.monitor() }()
-
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -192,7 +227,9 @@ func (db *DB) clean() error {
 
 	dir := filepath.Join(db.MetaPath(), "generations")
 	fis, err := ioutil.ReadDir(dir)
-	if err != nil {
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil
+	} else if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	for _, fi := range fis {
@@ -209,21 +246,6 @@ func (db *DB) clean() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Close releases the read lock & closes the database. This method should only
-// be called by tests as it causes the underlying database to be checkpointed.
-func (db *DB) Close() (err error) {
-	if e := db.SoftClose(); e != nil && err == nil {
-		err = e
-	}
-
-	if db.db != nil {
-		if e := db.db.Close(); e != nil && err == nil {
-			err = e
-		}
-	}
-	return err
-}
-
 // SoftClose closes everything but the underlying db connection. This method
 // is available because the binary needs to avoid closing the database on exit
 // to prevent autocheckpointing.
@@ -251,8 +273,8 @@ func (db *DB) acquireReadLock() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Disable autocheckpointing on this connection.
-	if _, err := tx.ExecContext(db.ctx, `PRAGMA wal_autocheckpoint = 0;`); err != nil {
+	// Execute read query to obtain read lock.
+	if _, err := tx.ExecContext(db.ctx, `SELECT COUNT(1) FROM _litestream_seq;`); err != nil {
 		tx.Rollback()
 		return err
 	}
@@ -329,12 +351,23 @@ func (db *DB) createGeneration() (string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Remove old generations.
+	if err := db.clean(); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
 	return generation, nil
 }
 
 // Sync copies pending data from the WAL to the shadow WAL.
 func (db *DB) Sync() (err error) {
-	// TODO: Lock DB while syncing?
+	db.mu.RLock()
+	defer db.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	// No database exists, exit.
+	if db.db == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	// TODO: Force "-wal" file if it doesn't exist.
 
@@ -364,11 +397,6 @@ func (db *DB) Sync() (err error) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("_litestream_lock: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Disable the autocheckpoint.
-	if _, err := tx.ExecContext(db.ctx, `PRAGMA wal_autocheckpoint = 0;`); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("disable autocheckpoint: %w", err)
-	}
-
 	// Verify our last sync matches the current state of the WAL.
 	// This ensures that we have an existing generation & that the last sync
 	// position of the real WAL hasn't been overwritten by another process.
@@ -385,7 +413,8 @@ func (db *DB) Sync() (err error) {
 		log.Printf("%s: new generation %q, %s", db.path, info.generation, info.reason)
 
 		// Clear shadow wal info.
-		info.shadowWALPath, info.shadowWALSize = "", 0
+		info.shadowWALPath = db.ShadowWALPath(info.generation, 0)
+		info.shadowWALSize = WALHeaderSize
 		info.restart = false
 		info.reason = ""
 	}
@@ -441,7 +470,7 @@ func (db *DB) verifyWAL() (info syncInfo, err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return info, fmt.Errorf("cannot find current generation: %w", err)
 	} else if generation == "" {
-		info.reason = "no generation"
+		info.reason = "no generation exists"
 		return info, nil
 	}
 	info.generation = generation
@@ -489,14 +518,16 @@ func (db *DB) verifyWAL() (info syncInfo, err error) {
 	}
 
 	// Verify last page synced still matches.
-	offset := info.shadowWALSize - int64(db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)
-	if buf0, err := readFileAt(db.WALPath(), offset, int64(db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)); err != nil {
-		return info, fmt.Errorf("cannot read last synced wal page: %w", err)
-	} else if buf1, err := readFileAt(info.shadowWALPath, offset, int64(db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)); err != nil {
-		return info, fmt.Errorf("cannot read last synced shadow wal page: %w", err)
-	} else if !bytes.Equal(buf0, buf1) {
-		info.reason = "wal overwritten by another process"
-		return info, nil
+	if info.shadowWALSize > WALHeaderSize {
+		offset := info.shadowWALSize - int64(db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)
+		if buf0, err := readFileAt(db.WALPath(), offset, int64(db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)); err != nil {
+			return info, fmt.Errorf("cannot read last synced wal page: %w", err)
+		} else if buf1, err := readFileAt(info.shadowWALPath, offset, int64(db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)); err != nil {
+			return info, fmt.Errorf("cannot read last synced shadow wal page: %w", err)
+		} else if !bytes.Equal(buf0, buf1) {
+			info.reason = "wal overwritten by another process"
+			return info, nil
+		}
 	}
 
 	return info, nil
@@ -549,24 +580,15 @@ func (db *DB) initShadowWALFile(filename string) error {
 	}
 
 	// Determine byte order for checksumming from header magic.
-	magic := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[0:])
-	switch magic {
-	case 0x377f0682:
-		db.byteOrder = binary.LittleEndian
-	case 0x377f0683:
-		db.byteOrder = binary.BigEndian
-	default:
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid wal header magic: %x", magic)
+	bo, err := headerByteOrder(hdr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	// Read header salt.
-	db.salt0 = binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[16:])
-	db.salt1 = binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[20:])
-
 	// Verify checksum.
 	s0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[24:])
 	s1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[28:])
-	if v0, v1 := Checksum(db.byteOrder, 0, 0, hdr[:24]); v0 != s0 || v1 != s1 {
+	if v0, v1 := Checksum(bo, 0, 0, hdr[:24]); v0 != s0 || v1 != s1 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid header checksum: (%x,%x) != (%x,%x)", v0, v1, s0, s1)
 	}
 
@@ -595,6 +617,19 @@ func (db *DB) copyToShadowWAL(filename string) (newSize int64, err error) {
 		return 0, err
 	}
 
+	// Read shadow WAL header to determine byte order for checksum & salt.
+	hdr := make([]byte, WALHeaderSize)
+	if _, err := io.ReadFull(w, hdr); err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("read header: %w", err)
+	}
+	hsalt0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[16:])
+	hsalt1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[20:])
+
+	bo, err := headerByteOrder(hdr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
 	// Read previous checksum.
 	chksum0, chksum1, err := readLastChecksumFrom(w, db.pageSize)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -624,19 +659,24 @@ func (db *DB) copyToShadowWAL(filename string) (newSize int64, err error) {
 		// Read frame salt & compare to header salt. Stop reading on mismatch.
 		salt0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[8:])
 		salt1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[12:])
-		if salt0 != db.salt0 || salt1 != db.salt1 {
+		if salt0 != hsalt0 || salt1 != hsalt1 {
 			break
 		}
 
 		// Verify checksum of page is valid.
 		fchksum0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[16:])
 		fchksum1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[20:])
-		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(db.byteOrder, chksum0, chksum1, buf[:8])  // frame header
-		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(db.byteOrder, chksum0, chksum1, buf[24:]) // frame data
+		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(bo, chksum0, chksum1, buf[:8])  // frame header
+		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(bo, chksum0, chksum1, buf[24:]) // frame data
 		if chksum0 != fchksum0 || chksum1 != fchksum1 {
 			return newSize, fmt.Errorf("checksum mismatch: offset=%d (%x,%x) != (%x,%x)", newSize, chksum0, chksum1, fchksum0, fchksum1)
 		}
 
+		// Write frame to shadow WAL.
+		if _, err := w.Write(buf); err != nil {
+			return newSize, err
+		}
+
 		// Add page to the new size of the shadow WAL.
 		newSize += int64(len(buf))
 	}
@@ -694,9 +734,11 @@ func (db *DB) checkpoint(force bool) error {
 		rawsql = `PRAGMA wal_checkpoint(RESTART);`
 	}
 
-	if _, err := db.db.Exec(rawsql); err != nil {
+	var row [3]int
+	if err := db.db.QueryRow(rawsql).Scan(&row[0], &row[1], &row[2]); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	log.Printf("%s: checkpoint: force=%v (%d,%d,%d)", db.path, force, row[0], row[1], row[2])
 
 	// Reacquire the read lock immediately after the checkpoint.
 	if err := db.acquireReadLock(); err != nil {
@@ -714,17 +756,31 @@ func (db *DB) monitor() {
 		// Wait for ticker or context close.
 		select {
 		case <-db.ctx.Done():
+			return
 		case <-ticker.C:
 		}
 
+		// Ensure the database is initialized.
+		if err := db.Init(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("%s: init error: %s", db.path, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
 		// Sync the database to the shadow WAL.
 		if err := db.Sync(); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
 			log.Printf("%s: sync error: %s", db.path, err)
 		}
-
-		// If context closed, exit after final sync.
-		if db.ctx.Err() != nil {
-			return
-		}
+	}
+}
+
+func headerByteOrder(hdr []byte) (binary.ByteOrder, error) {
+	magic := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(hdr[0:])
+	switch magic {
+	case 0x377f0682:
+		return binary.LittleEndian, nil
+	case 0x377f0683:
+		return binary.BigEndian, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid wal header magic: %x", magic)
 	}
 }