diff --git a/src/ra_server_proc.erl b/src/ra_server_proc.erl
index 3f89ff0d..3941a050 100644
--- a/src/ra_server_proc.erl
+++ b/src/ra_server_proc.erl
@@ -309,9 +309,12 @@ do_init(#{id := Id,
     MinBinVheapSize = maps:get(server_min_bin_vheap_size, SysConf,
                                ?MIN_BIN_VHEAP_SIZE),
     MinHeapSize = maps:get(server_min_heap_size, SysConf, ?MIN_BIN_VHEAP_SIZE),
+    AsyncDist = maps:get(async_dist, SysConf, true),
     process_flag(message_queue_data, MsgQData),
     process_flag(min_bin_vheap_size, MinBinVheapSize),
     process_flag(min_heap_size, MinHeapSize),
+    process_flag(async_dist, AsyncDist),
+    %% wait for wal for a bit before initialising the server state and log
     #{cluster := Cluster} = ServerState = ra_server:init(Config),
     LogId = ra_server:log_id(ServerState),
     UId = ra_server:uid(ServerState),
@@ -1318,8 +1321,10 @@ handle_effect(_, {send_rpc, To, Rpc}, _,
               #state{conf = Conf} = State0, Actions) ->
     % fully qualified use only so that we can mock it for testing
     % TODO: review / refactor to remove the mod call here
+    process_flag(async_dist, false),
     case ?MODULE:send_rpc(To, Rpc, State0) of
         ok ->
+            process_flag(async_dist, true),
             {State0, Actions};
         nosuspend ->
             %% update peer status to suspended and spawn a process
@@ -1334,8 +1339,10 @@ handle_effect(_, {send_rpc, To, Rpc}, _,
                                  incr_counter(Conf, ?C_RA_SRV_MSGS_SENT, 1),
                                  Self ! {update_peer, To, #{status => normal}}
                          end),
+            process_flag(async_dist, true),
             {update_peer(To, #{status => suspended}, State0), Actions};
         noconnect ->
+            process_flag(async_dist, true),
             %% for noconnects just allow it to pipeline and catch up later
             {State0, Actions}
     end;
diff --git a/src/ra_system.erl b/src/ra_system.erl
index 54b9722c..c6a4e11f 100644
--- a/src/ra_system.erl
+++ b/src/ra_system.erl
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@
                     low_priority_commands_in_memory_size => non_neg_integer(),
                     server_recovery_strategy => undefined |
                                                registered |
-                                               {module(), atom(), list()}
+                                               {module(), atom(), list()},
+                    async_dist => boolean()
                    }.
 
 -export_type([
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@ default_config() ->
       receive_snapshot_timeout => ReceiveSnapshotTimeout,
       low_priority_commands_flush_size => LowPriorityCommandsFlushSize,
       low_priority_commands_in_memory_size => LowPriorityInMemSize,
+      async_dist => true,
       names => #{wal => ra_log_wal,
                  wal_sup => ra_log_wal_sup,
                  log_sup => ra_log_sup,
diff --git a/test/ra_SUITE.erl b/test/ra_SUITE.erl
index 457cc91f..19264d8c 100644
--- a/test/ra_SUITE.erl
+++ b/test/ra_SUITE.erl
@@ -117,15 +117,18 @@ end_per_testcase(_TestCase, Config) ->
     Config.
 
 single_server_processes_command(Config) ->
-    % ok = logger:set_primary_config(level, all),
     Name = ?config(test_name, Config),
-    N1 = nth_server_name(Config, 1),
+    {RaName, _} = N1 = nth_server_name(Config, 1),
     ok = ra:start_server(default, Name, N1, add_machine(), []),
     ok = ra:trigger_election(N1),
     % index is 2 as leaders commit a no-op entry on becoming leaders
+    monitor(process, element(1, N1)),
+    ?assertMatch([{async_dist, true}],
+                 process_info(whereis(RaName), [async_dist])),
     {ok, 5, _} = ra:process_command(N1, 5, 2000),
     {ok, 10, _} = ra:process_command(N1, 5, 2000),
-    terminate_cluster([N1]).
+    terminate_cluster([N1]),
+    ok.
 
 pipeline_commands(Config) ->
     Name = ?config(test_name, Config),