diff --git a/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs b/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs
index a1f8508f05..344d796a78 100644
--- a/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/consensus/beacon/src/engine/mod.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use reth_provider::ExecutorFactory;
 use reth_rpc_types::engine::{
     ExecutionPayload, ForkchoiceUpdated, PayloadAttributes, PayloadStatus, PayloadStatusEnum,
 };
-use reth_stages::Pipeline;
+use reth_stages::{stages::FINISH, Pipeline};
 use reth_tasks::TaskSpawner;
 use std::{
     pin::Pin,
@@ -131,19 +131,34 @@ where
         &mut self,
         state: ForkchoiceState,
         _attrs: Option<PayloadAttributes>,
-    ) -> ForkchoiceUpdated {
+    ) -> Result<ForkchoiceUpdated, reth_interfaces::Error> {
         trace!(target: "consensus::engine", ?state, "Received new forkchoice state");
         if state.head_block_hash.is_zero() {
-            return ForkchoiceUpdated::new(PayloadStatus::from_status(PayloadStatusEnum::Invalid {
-                validation_error: BeaconEngineError::ForkchoiceEmptyHead.to_string(),
-            }))
+            return Ok(ForkchoiceUpdated::new(PayloadStatus::from_status(
+                PayloadStatusEnum::Invalid {
+                    validation_error: BeaconEngineError::ForkchoiceEmptyHead.to_string(),
+                },
+            )))
         }
 
         let is_first_forkchoice = self.forkchoice_state.is_none();
         self.forkchoice_state = Some(state);
         let status = if self.is_pipeline_idle() {
             match self.blockchain_tree.make_canonical(&state.head_block_hash) {
-                Ok(_) => PayloadStatus::from_status(PayloadStatusEnum::Valid),
+                Ok(_) => {
+                    let head_block_number = self
+                        .db
+                        .view(|tx| tx.get::<tables::HeaderNumbers>(state.head_block_hash))??
+                        .expect("was canonicalized, so it exists");
+                    let pipeline_min_progress =
+                        FINISH.get_progress(&self.db.tx()?)?.unwrap_or_default();
+
+                    if pipeline_min_progress < head_block_number {
+                        self.require_pipeline_run(PipelineTarget::Head);
+                    }
+
+                    PayloadStatus::from_status(PayloadStatusEnum::Valid)
+                }
                 Err(error) => {
                     warn!(target: "consensus::engine", ?state, ?error, "Error canonicalizing the head hash");
                     // If this is the first forkchoice received, start downloading from safe block
@@ -169,7 +184,7 @@ where
             PayloadStatus::from_status(PayloadStatusEnum::Syncing)
         };
         trace!(target: "consensus::engine", ?state, ?status, "Returning forkchoice status");
-        ForkchoiceUpdated::new(status)
+        Ok(ForkchoiceUpdated::new(status))
     }
 
     /// When the Consensus layer receives a new block via the consensus gossip protocol,
@@ -309,7 +324,13 @@ where
             while let Poll::Ready(Some(msg)) = this.message_rx.poll_next_unpin(cx) {
                 match msg {
                     BeaconEngineMessage::ForkchoiceUpdated { state, payload_attrs, tx } => {
-                        let response = this.on_forkchoice_updated(state, payload_attrs);
+                        let response = match this.on_forkchoice_updated(state, payload_attrs) {
+                            Ok(response) => response,
+                            Err(error) => {
+                                error!(target: "consensus::engine", ?state, ?error, "Error getting forkchoice updated response");
+                                return Poll::Ready(Err(error.into()))
+                            }
+                        };
                         let is_valid_response =
                             matches!(response.payload_status.status, PayloadStatusEnum::Valid);
                         let _ = tx.send(Ok(response));
@@ -722,6 +743,7 @@ mod tests {
             let genesis = random_block(0, None, None, Some(0));
             let block1 = random_block(1, Some(genesis.hash), None, Some(0));
             insert_blocks(env.db.as_ref(), [&genesis, &block1].into_iter());
+            env.db.update(|tx| FINISH.save_progress(tx, block1.number)).unwrap().unwrap();
 
             let mut engine_rx = spawn_consensus_engine(consensus_engine);