diff --git a/server/etcdserver/bootstrap.go b/server/etcdserver/bootstrap.go
index d1b8bbe643ed..a2b62d2ce5bc 100644
--- a/server/etcdserver/bootstrap.go
+++ b/server/etcdserver/bootstrap.go
@@ -228,6 +228,9 @@ func bootstrapBackend(cfg config.ServerConfig, haveWAL bool, st v2store.Store, s
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		// A snapshot db may have already been recovered, and the old db should have
+		// already been closed in this case, so we should set the backend again.
+		ci.SetBackend(be)
 	}
 	if beExist {
 		err = schema.Validate(cfg.Logger, be.BatchTx())