diff --git a/core/http/middleware/failover_test.go b/core/http/middleware/failover_test.go
index a16337545..81fff5e02 100644
--- a/core/http/middleware/failover_test.go
+++ b/core/http/middleware/failover_test.go
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ var _ = Describe("failover chains in the request pipeline", func() {
 		Expect(mcl.LoadModelConfigsFromPath(dir)).To(Succeed())
 		re = NewRequestExtractor(mcl, model.NewModelLoader(ss), appConfig)
 		fm = failover.New(mcl)
+		// The scheduler's first tick syncs in the application; HasChains
+		// answers from the last sync.
+		fm.Sync()
 		re.SetFailoverManager(fm)
 
 		app = echo.New()
diff --git a/core/services/failover/fakes_test.go b/core/services/failover/fakes_test.go
index cad6b3552..232b7b4df 100644
--- a/core/services/failover/fakes_test.go
+++ b/core/services/failover/fakes_test.go
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ func (c *fakeClock) Advance(d time.Duration) {
 }
 
 type fakeSource struct {
-	mu   sync.Mutex
-	cfgs map[string]config.ModelConfig
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	cfgs  map[string]config.ModelConfig
+	scans int // GetAllModelsConfigs calls
 }
 
 func newFakeSource(cfgs ...config.ModelConfig) *fakeSource {
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ func newFakeSource(cfgs ...config.ModelConfig) *fakeSource {
 }
 func (s *fakeSource) Put(c config.ModelConfig) { s.mu.Lock(); s.cfgs[c.Name] = c; s.mu.Unlock() }
 func (s *fakeSource) Delete(name string)       { s.mu.Lock(); delete(s.cfgs, name); s.mu.Unlock() }
+func (s *fakeSource) Scans() int               { s.mu.Lock(); defer s.mu.Unlock(); return s.scans }
 func (s *fakeSource) GetModelConfig(n string) (config.ModelConfig, bool) {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
@@ -48,6 +50,7 @@ func (s *fakeSource) GetModelConfig(n string) (config.ModelConfig, bool) {
 func (s *fakeSource) GetAllModelsConfigs() []config.ModelConfig {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	s.scans++
 	out := make([]config.ModelConfig, 0, len(s.cfgs))
 	for _, c := range s.cfgs {
 		out = append(out, c)
diff --git a/core/services/failover/manager.go b/core/services/failover/manager.go
index ab130d1ee..ea31ee999 100644
--- a/core/services/failover/manager.go
+++ b/core/services/failover/manager.go
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ type Manager struct {
 	warm        []string
 	warmPending bool
 	closed      bool
+	// hasChains mirrors len(chains) > 0 as of the last sync, so the request
+	// path can check it without the lock or a config-source scan.
+	hasChains atomic.Bool
 }
 
 type targetState struct {
@@ -168,6 +171,7 @@ func (m *Manager) syncLocked() {
 			delete(m.targets, name)
 		}
 	}
+	m.hasChains.Store(len(m.chains) > 0)
 	for _, ch := range m.chains {
 		m.recomputeLocked(ch, "")
 	}
@@ -201,26 +205,18 @@ func (m *Manager) lookupTarget(name string) (config.ModelConfig, bool) {
 	return c, ok
 }
 
-// HasChains reports whether any failover chain is configured. The request
-// path uses it to skip chain bookkeeping on installations without chains.
-// Chains are synced lazily, so with none known yet the config source is
-// consulted, which catches a chain added since the last sync.
+// HasChains reports whether any failover chain was configured at the last
+// sync. The request path calls it on every request to skip chain bookkeeping
+// on installations without chains, so it reads a flag instead of scanning
+// the config source (which takes the loader's lock and copies every config).
+// A chain added since the last sync is still served, because Plan syncs on a
+// miss; only in-request retry is missing for it until the scheduler's next
+// tick, at most one second later.
 func (m *Manager) HasChains() bool {
 	if m == nil {
 		return false
 	}
-	m.mu.Lock()
-	known := len(m.chains) > 0
-	m.mu.Unlock()
-	if known {
-		return true
-	}
-	for _, c := range m.src.GetAllModelsConfigs() {
-		if c.IsFailover() {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
+	return m.hasChains.Load()
 }
 
 func (m *Manager) chainLocked(name string) *chainState {
diff --git a/core/services/failover/manager_test.go b/core/services/failover/manager_test.go
index d0736cf19..0d2746331 100644
--- a/core/services/failover/manager_test.go
+++ b/core/services/failover/manager_test.go
@@ -60,18 +60,34 @@ var _ = Describe("Manager", func() {
 		Expect(st.Targets[0].State).To(Equal(StateHealthy))
 	})
 
-	It("reports whether any chain is configured, including one added since the last sync", func() {
+	It("reports whether any chain was configured at the last sync", func() {
+		m.Sync()
+		Expect(m.HasChains()).To(BeTrue())
+		var nilManager *Manager
+		Expect(nilManager.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
+	})
+
+	It("answers HasChains from the last sync without scanning the config source", func() {
 		empty := New(newFakeSource(remote("a")), WithClock(clock))
 		Expect(empty.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
 		lateSrc := newFakeSource(remote("a"), local("b"))
 		late := New(lateSrc, WithClock(clock))
 		late.Sync()
-		Expect(late.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
+		scans := lateSrc.Scans()
+		for range 100 {
+			Expect(late.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
+		}
+		Expect(lateSrc.Scans()).To(Equal(scans))
+		// A chain added since the last sync is seen at the next sync, or
+		// sooner by Plan, which syncs on a miss.
 		lateSrc.Put(chainCfg("chain", nil, t("a"), t("b")))
+		Expect(late.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
+		_, err := late.Plan("chain")
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 		Expect(late.HasChains()).To(BeTrue())
-		Expect(m.HasChains()).To(BeTrue())
-		var nilManager *Manager
-		Expect(nilManager.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
+		lateSrc.Delete("chain")
+		late.Sync()
+		Expect(late.HasChains()).To(BeFalse())
 	})
 
 	It("returns ErrChainNotFound for an unknown chain", func() {