diff --git a/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/BootstrapCoordinator.kt b/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/BootstrapCoordinator.kt
index ffec174..f46c63a 100644
--- a/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/BootstrapCoordinator.kt
+++ b/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/BootstrapCoordinator.kt
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ internal class BootstrapCoordinator(
                     syncDefault(client, scope, binding)
                     null
                 } catch (error: Exception) {
+                    refreshScheduler.requireDefaultSync(scope)
                     error
                 }
             refreshScheduler.subscribeToChanges(listener, scope)
diff --git a/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizer.kt b/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizer.kt
index a8a9be8..b1d452d 100644
--- a/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizer.kt
+++ b/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizer.kt
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ internal class ConfigScopeSynchronizer(
     private val refreshScheduler =
         RefreshScheduler(
             logger = logger,
+            objectMapper = objectMapper,
             snapshotApplier = snapshotApplier,
             refreshExecutorFactory = refreshExecutorFactory,
             refreshWorkerExecutorFactory = refreshWorkerExecutorFactory,
diff --git a/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/RefreshScheduler.kt b/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/RefreshScheduler.kt
index 6759741..d898fe3 100644
--- a/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/RefreshScheduler.kt
+++ b/common/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/RefreshScheduler.kt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package gg.grounds.config.internal.sync
 
+import gg.grounds.config.client.ConfigDefaultData
 import gg.grounds.config.client.SnapshotResult
+import gg.grounds.config.internal.binding.ConfigBinding
 import gg.grounds.config.internal.scope.AppEnvScope
 import gg.grounds.config.nats.ConfigChangeListener
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
@@ -9,9 +11,11 @@ import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import org.slf4j.Logger
+import tools.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper
 
 internal class RefreshScheduler(
     private val logger: Logger,
+    private val objectMapper: ObjectMapper,
     private val snapshotApplier: SnapshotApplier,
     private val refreshExecutorFactory: () -> ScheduledExecutorService,
     private val refreshWorkerExecutorFactory: () -> ExecutorService,
@@ -20,6 +24,7 @@ internal class RefreshScheduler(
     private val withLifecycleReadLock: ((() -> Unit) -> Unit),
 ) {
     private val trackedScopes = ConcurrentHashMap.newKeySet<AppEnvScope>()
+    private val scopesRequiringDefaultSync = ConcurrentHashMap.newKeySet<AppEnvScope>()
     private var refreshExecutor: ScheduledExecutorService? = null
     private var refreshFuture: ScheduledFuture<*>? = null
     private var refreshWorkerExecutor: ExecutorService? = null
@@ -42,6 +47,7 @@ internal class RefreshScheduler(
         refreshWorkerExecutor?.shutdownNow()
         refreshWorkerExecutor = null
         trackedScopes.clear()
+        scopesRequiringDefaultSync.clear()
     }
 
     fun close() {
@@ -53,6 +59,10 @@ internal class RefreshScheduler(
         trackedScopes.add(scope)
     }
 
+    fun requireDefaultSync(scope: AppEnvScope) {
+        scopesRequiringDefaultSync.add(scope)
+    }
+
     fun subscribeToChanges(listener: ConfigChangeListener, scope: AppEnvScope) {
         if (!scope.markSubscriptionStarted()) {
             return
@@ -91,6 +101,10 @@ internal class RefreshScheduler(
         forceFullSnapshot: Boolean,
     ) {
         val requiresFullSnapshot = forceFullSnapshot || scope.hasUninitializedBindings()
+        if (scopesRequiringDefaultSync.contains(scope)) {
+            syncUninitializedDefaults(client, scope)
+            scopesRequiringDefaultSync.remove(scope)
+        }
         val response =
             if (requiresFullSnapshot) {
                 executeRetryableCall(
@@ -116,6 +130,34 @@ internal class RefreshScheduler(
         applyResponse(scope, response)
     }
 
+    private fun syncUninitializedDefaults(
+        client: gg.grounds.config.client.ConfigSyncClient,
+        scope: AppEnvScope,
+    ) {
+        val defaults =
+            scope.bindingsSnapshot().values.filterNot(ConfigBinding<*>::initialized).map { binding
+                ->
+                ConfigDefaultData(
+                    namespace = binding.definition.namespace,
+                    configKey = binding.definition.key,
+                    defaultContentJson =
+                        objectMapper.writeValueAsString(binding.definition.defaultValue),
+                )
+            }
+        if (defaults.isEmpty()) {
+            return
+        }
+        executeRetryableCall(
+            logger = logger,
+            scope = scope,
+            operation = "sync_defaults",
+            maxAttempts = REFRESH_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+            sleepMillis = sleepMillis,
+        ) {
+            client.syncDefaults(scope.app, scope.env, defaults)
+        }
+    }
+
     private fun applyResponse(scope: AppEnvScope, response: SnapshotResult) {
         if (response.changed) {
             snapshotApplier.applySnapshot(scope, response.version, response.documents)
diff --git a/common/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizerTest.kt b/common/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizerTest.kt
index e8a8103..3cae16a 100644
--- a/common/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizerTest.kt
+++ b/common/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/config/internal/sync/ConfigScopeSynchronizerTest.kt
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.Executors
 import java.util.concurrent.Future
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
 import kotlin.io.path.createTempDirectory
 import kotlin.test.Test
@@ -439,6 +440,67 @@ class ConfigScopeSynchronizerTest {
         }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `periodic refresh seeds an uninitialized degraded binding after the service recovers`() {
+        val serviceAvailable = AtomicBoolean(false)
+        val refreshCompleted = CountDownLatch(1)
+        var onChangeReceived: (() -> Unit)? = null
+        val client =
+            RecordingConfigSyncClient(
+                syncDefaultsHandler = {
+                    if (!serviceAvailable.get()) {
+                        throw ConfigServiceException("service unavailable", 503)
+                    }
+                    SyncDefaultsResult(version = 1, createdKeys = emptyList())
+                },
+                getSnapshotHandler = {
+                    check(syncDefaultCalls >= 4) { "defaults were not re-synced" }
+                    refreshCompleted.countDown()
+                    defaultSnapshotResponse(version = 1, value = "recovered")
+                },
+            )
+        val executors = mutableListOf<ScheduledExecutorService>()
+        val synchronizer =
+            ConfigScopeSynchronizer(
+                logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger("ConfigScopeSynchronizerRecoveryTest"),
+                configClientFactory = { client },
+                natsListenerFactory = {
+                    RecordingConfigChangeListener { callback -> onChangeReceived = callback }
+                },
+                refreshExecutorFactory = {
+                    Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor().also { executor ->
+                        executors += executor
+                    }
+                },
+                sleepMillis = {},
+            )
+        val scope = AppEnvScope(app = "test-app", env = "dev")
+        val binding = ConfigBinding(TestStringConfig)
+        scope.putBindingIfAbsent(
+            ConfigKey(TestStringConfig.namespace, TestStringConfig.key),
+            binding,
+        )
+
+        try {
+            synchronizer.start("dns:///config", "nats://localhost:4222")
+            assertEquals(
+                ConfigRegistrationStatus.NOT_READY,
+                synchronizer.bootstrap(scope, binding, ConfigStartupMode.DEGRADED).status,
+            )
+
+            serviceAvailable.set(true)
+            checkNotNull(onChangeReceived).invoke()
+
+            assertTrue(refreshCompleted.await(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
+            assertTrue(binding.initialized())
+            assertEquals("recovered", binding.get())
+            assertEquals(4, client.syncDefaultCalls)
+        } finally {
+            synchronizer.close()
+            executors.forEach { executor -> executor.shutdownNow() }
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `bootstrap leaves binding uninitialized when snapshot is missing document`() {
         val client =