diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 0423632c28f4..2f210d80b3aa 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -6926,6 +6926,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "polkadot-primitives-test-helpers",
  "sc-keystore",
  "sp-application-crypto",
+ "sp-consensus",
  "sp-core",
  "sp-keyring",
  "sp-keystore",
diff --git a/node/core/dispute-coordinator/Cargo.toml b/node/core/dispute-coordinator/Cargo.toml
index 128c59a02230..832e96f0f550 100644
--- a/node/core/dispute-coordinator/Cargo.toml
+++ b/node/core/dispute-coordinator/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ polkadot-node-subsystem = { path = "../../subsystem" }
 polkadot-node-subsystem-util = { path = "../../subsystem-util" }
 
 sc-keystore = { git = "https://github.com/paritytech/substrate", branch = "master" }
-
+sp-consensus = { git = "https://github.com/paritytech/substrate", branch = "master" }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 kvdb-memorydb = "0.13.0"
diff --git a/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/initialized.rs b/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/initialized.rs
index daab2838d7ee..04f6c146a456 100644
--- a/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/initialized.rs
+++ b/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/initialized.rs
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ impl Initialized {
 		spam_slots: SpamSlots,
 		scraper: ChainScraper,
 	) -> Self {
-		let DisputeCoordinatorSubsystem { config: _, store: _, keystore, metrics } = subsystem;
+		let DisputeCoordinatorSubsystem { config: _, store: _, keystore, metrics, sync_oracle: _ } =
+			subsystem;
 
 		let (participation_sender, participation_receiver) = mpsc::channel(1);
 		let participation = Participation::new(participation_sender);
@@ -1235,7 +1236,7 @@ enum MuxedMessage {
 impl MuxedMessage {
 	async fn receive<Context>(
 		ctx: &mut Context,
-		from_sender: &mut participation::WorkerMessageReceiver,
+		from_sender: &mut WorkerMessageReceiver,
 	) -> FatalResult<Self> {
 		// We are only fusing here to make `select` happy, in reality we will quit if the stream
 		// ends.
diff --git a/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/lib.rs b/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/lib.rs
index 1c66c6c6099c..bc314197968e 100644
--- a/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/lib.rs
+++ b/node/core/dispute-coordinator/src/lib.rs
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ use futures::FutureExt;
 
 use gum::CandidateHash;
 use sc_keystore::LocalKeystore;
+use sp_consensus::SyncOracle;
 
 use polkadot_node_primitives::{
 	CandidateVotes, DisputeMessage, DisputeMessageCheckError, SignedDisputeStatement,
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ pub struct DisputeCoordinatorSubsystem {
 	store: Arc<dyn Database>,
 	keystore: Arc<LocalKeystore>,
 	metrics: Metrics,
+	sync_oracle: Box<dyn SyncOracle + Send + Sync>,
 }
 
 /// Configuration for the dispute coordinator subsystem.
@@ -164,8 +166,9 @@ impl DisputeCoordinatorSubsystem {
 		config: Config,
 		keystore: Arc<LocalKeystore>,
 		metrics: Metrics,
+		sync_oracle: Box<dyn SyncOracle + Send + Sync>,
 	) -> Self {
-		Self { store, config, keystore, metrics }
+		Self { store, config, keystore, metrics, sync_oracle }
 	}
 
 	/// Initialize and afterwards run `Initialized::run`.
@@ -213,8 +216,12 @@ impl DisputeCoordinatorSubsystem {
 			let db_params =
 				DatabaseParams { db: self.store.clone(), db_column: self.config.col_session_data };
 
+			// The usage of `SyncOracle` below is not 100% correct. A better approach will be to
+			// cache the result and once the oracle returns `sync complete` to consider the node
+			// synced and never query the oracle again. In this case however this is not necessary
+			// because the oracle is used only once during initialisation.
 			let (first_leaf, rolling_session_window) =
-				match get_rolling_session_window(ctx, db_params).await {
+				match get_rolling_session_window(ctx, db_params, &self.sync_oracle).await {
 					Ok(Some(update)) => update,
 					Ok(None) => {
 						gum::info!(target: LOG_TARGET, "received `Conclude` signal, exiting");
@@ -377,8 +384,9 @@ impl DisputeCoordinatorSubsystem {
 async fn get_rolling_session_window<Context>(
 	ctx: &mut Context,
 	db_params: DatabaseParams,
+	sync_oracle: &Box<dyn SyncOracle + Send + Sync>,
 ) -> Result<Option<(ActivatedLeaf, RollingSessionWindow)>> {
-	if let Some(leaf) = { wait_for_first_leaf(ctx) }.await? {
+	if let Some(leaf) = { wait_for_first_leaf(ctx, sync_oracle) }.await? {
 		let sender = ctx.sender().clone();
 		Ok(Some((
 			leaf.clone(),
@@ -393,11 +401,20 @@ async fn get_rolling_session_window<Context>(
 
 /// Wait for `ActiveLeavesUpdate`, returns `None` if `Conclude` signal came first.
 #[overseer::contextbounds(DisputeCoordinator, prefix = self::overseer)]
-async fn wait_for_first_leaf<Context>(ctx: &mut Context) -> Result<Option<ActivatedLeaf>> {
+async fn wait_for_first_leaf<Context>(
+	ctx: &mut Context,
+	sync_oracle: &Box<dyn SyncOracle + Send + Sync>,
+) -> Result<Option<ActivatedLeaf>> {
 	loop {
 		match ctx.recv().await? {
 			FromOrchestra::Signal(OverseerSignal::Conclude) => return Ok(None),
 			FromOrchestra::Signal(OverseerSignal::ActiveLeaves(update)) => {
+				if sync_oracle.is_major_syncing() {
+					// still syncing - ignore this event because otherwise the runtime api calls will
+					// fail due to executing them on pruned blocks.
+					continue
+				}
+
 				if let Some(activated) = update.activated {
 					return Ok(Some(activated))
 				}
diff --git a/node/service/src/overseer.rs b/node/service/src/overseer.rs
index 7dff86693827..8d4ed76d4e41 100644
--- a/node/service/src/overseer.rs
+++ b/node/service/src/overseer.rs
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ where
 			dispute_coordinator_config,
 			keystore.clone(),
 			Metrics::register(registry)?,
+			Box::new(network_service.clone()),
 		))
 		.dispute_distribution(DisputeDistributionSubsystem::new(
 			keystore.clone(),