diff --git a/cognite/extractorutils/statestore.py b/cognite/extractorutils/statestore.py
index 242e9eb8..5a8f9838 100644
--- a/cognite/extractorutils/statestore.py
+++ b/cognite/extractorutils/statestore.py
@@ -138,11 +138,13 @@ def __init__(
 
         self._deleted: List[str] = []
 
-    def start(self) -> None:
+    def start(self, initialize: bool = True) -> None:
         """
         Start saving state periodically if save_interval is set.
         This calls the synchronize method every save_interval seconds.
         """
+        if initialize and not self._initialized:
+            self.initialize()
         if self.save_interval is not None:
             self.thread.start()
 
@@ -416,13 +418,13 @@ def impl() -> None:
             """
             Upload local state store to CDF
             """
-            self._cdf_client.raw.rows.insert(db_name=self.database, table_name=self.table, row=self._local_state)
-            # Create a copy of deleted to facilitate testing (mock library stores list, and as it changes, the
-            # assertions fail)
-            self._cdf_client.raw.rows.delete(
-                db_name=self.database, table_name=self.table, key=[k for k in self._deleted]
-            )
             with self.lock:
+                self._cdf_client.raw.rows.insert(db_name=self.database, table_name=self.table, row=self._local_state)
+                # Create a copy of deleted to facilitate testing (mock library stores list, and as it changes, the
+                # assertions fail)
+                self._cdf_client.raw.rows.delete(
+                    db_name=self.database, table_name=self.table, key=[k for k in self._deleted]
+                )
                 self._deleted.clear()
 
         impl()
@@ -501,10 +503,9 @@ def synchronize(self) -> None:
         """
         Save states to specified JSON file
         """
-        with open(self._file_path, "w") as f:
-            json.dump(self._local_state, f, cls=_DecimalEncoder)
-
         with self.lock:
+            with open(self._file_path, "w") as f:
+                json.dump(self._local_state, f, cls=_DecimalEncoder)
             self._deleted.clear()
 
     def __enter__(self) -> "LocalStateStore":