diff --git a/electrumx/lib/merkle.py b/electrumx/lib/merkle.py
index 1d235f4..215879e 100644
--- a/electrumx/lib/merkle.py
+++ b/electrumx/lib/merkle.py
@@ -203,7 +203,8 @@ class MerkleCache(object):
         return level
 
     def truncate(self, length):
-        '''Truncate the cache so it is no longer than length.'''
+        '''Truncate the cache so it covers no more than length underlying
+        hashes.'''
         if not isinstance(length, int):
             raise TypeError('length must be an integer')
         if length <= 0:
diff --git a/electrumx/server/block_processor.py b/electrumx/server/block_processor.py
index b7fdeb3..4b4985e 100644
--- a/electrumx/server/block_processor.py
+++ b/electrumx/server/block_processor.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from functools import partial
 import electrumx
 from electrumx.server.daemon import DaemonError
 from electrumx.lib.hash import hash_to_hex_str, HASHX_LEN
+from electrumx.lib.merkle import Merkle, MerkleCache
 from electrumx.lib.util import chunks, formatted_time, class_logger
 import electrumx.server.db
 
@@ -128,6 +129,12 @@ class Prefetcher(object):
         return True
 
 
+class HeaderSource(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, db):
+        self.hashes = db.fs_block_hashes
+
+
 class ChainError(Exception):
     '''Raised on error processing blocks.'''
 
@@ -166,6 +173,10 @@ class BlockProcessor(electrumx.server.db.DB):
         self.last_flush_tx_count = self.tx_count
         self.touched = set()
 
+        # Header merkle cache
+        self.merkle = Merkle()
+        self.header_mc = None
+
         # Caches of unflushed items.
         self.headers = []
         self.tx_hashes = []
@@ -220,6 +231,12 @@ class BlockProcessor(electrumx.server.db.DB):
             self.logger.info(f'{electrumx.version} synced to '
                              f'height {self.height:,d}')
         self.open_dbs()
+        self.logger.info(f'caught up to height {self.height:,d}')
+        length = max(1, self.height - self.env.reorg_limit)
+        self.header_mc = MerkleCache(self.merkle, HeaderSource(self), length)
+        self.logger.info('populated header merkle cache')
+
+        # Reorgs use header_mc so safest to set this after initializing it
         self.caught_up_event.set()
 
     async def check_and_advance_blocks(self, raw_blocks, first):
@@ -291,6 +308,8 @@ class BlockProcessor(electrumx.server.db.DB):
         for hex_hashes in chunks(hashes, 50):
             blocks = await self.daemon.raw_blocks(hex_hashes)
             await self.controller.run_in_executor(self.backup_blocks, blocks)
+        # Truncate header_mc: header count is 1 more than the height
+        self.header_mc.truncate(self.height + 1)
         await self.prefetcher.reset_height()
 
     async def reorg_hashes(self, count):
diff --git a/electrumx/server/controller.py b/electrumx/server/controller.py
index 2263fba..63f9596 100644
--- a/electrumx/server/controller.py
+++ b/electrumx/server/controller.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ from aiorpcx import RPCError, TaskSet, _version as aiorpcx_version
 import electrumx
 from electrumx.lib.hash import hash_to_hex_str, hex_str_to_hash
 from electrumx.lib.hash import HASHX_LEN
-from electrumx.lib.merkle import Merkle, MerkleCache
 from electrumx.lib.peer import Peer
 from electrumx.lib.server_base import ServerBase
 import electrumx.lib.util as util
@@ -34,13 +33,6 @@ from electrumx.server.session import LocalRPC, BAD_REQUEST, DAEMON_ERROR
 
 
 version_string = util.version_string
-merkle = Merkle()
-
-
-class HeaderSource(object):
-
-    def __init__(self, db):
-        self.hashes = db.fs_block_hashes
 
 
 class SessionGroup(object):
@@ -235,11 +227,6 @@ class Controller(ServerBase):
         '''Wait for the block processor to catch up, and for the mempool to
         synchronize, then kick off server background processes.'''
         await self.bp.caught_up_event.wait()
-        self.logger.info('block processor has caught up')
-        length = max(1, self.bp.db_height - self.env.reorg_limit)
-        source = HeaderSource(self.bp)
-        self.header_mc = MerkleCache(merkle, source, length)
-        self.logger.info('populated header merkle cache')
         self.create_task(self.mempool.main_loop())
         await self.mempool.synchronized_event.wait()
         self.create_task(self.peer_mgr.main_loop())
@@ -867,7 +854,7 @@ class Controller(ServerBase):
                            f'block {block_hash} at height {height:,d}')
 
         hashes = [hex_str_to_hash(hash) for hash in tx_hashes]
-        branch, root = merkle.branch_and_root(hashes, pos)
+        branch, root = self.bp.merkle.branch_and_root(hashes, pos)
         branch = [hash_to_hex_str(hash) for hash in branch]
 
         return {"block_height": height, "merkle": branch, "pos": pos}
diff --git a/electrumx/server/session.py b/electrumx/server/session.py
index 28f5981..4743eca 100644
--- a/electrumx/server/session.py
+++ b/electrumx/server/session.py
@@ -305,8 +305,7 @@ class ElectrumX(SessionBase):
                            f'require header height {height:,d} <= '
                            f'cp_height {cp_height:,d} <= '
                            f'chain height {max_height:,d}')
-        branch, root = self.controller.header_mc.branch_and_root(
-            cp_height + 1, height)
+        branch, root = self.bp.header_mc.branch_and_root(cp_height + 1, height)
         return {
             'branch': [hash_to_hex_str(elt) for elt in branch],
             'root': hash_to_hex_str(root),