diff --git a/pkg/querier/blocks_store_queryable.go b/pkg/querier/blocks_store_queryable.go
index 95ade33f54..cfab2094f9 100644
--- a/pkg/querier/blocks_store_queryable.go
+++ b/pkg/querier/blocks_store_queryable.go
@@ -246,7 +246,12 @@ func NewBlocksStoreQueryableFromConfig(querierCfg Config, gatewayCfg storegatewa
 
 	var expandedReplication storegateway.ExpandedReplication
 	if gatewayCfg.ExpandedReplication.Enabled {
-		expandedReplication = storegateway.NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(gatewayCfg.ExpandedReplication.MaxTimeThreshold)
+		expandedReplication = storegateway.NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(
+			gatewayCfg.ExpandedReplication.MaxTimeThreshold,
+			// Exclude blocks which have recently become eligible for expanded replication, in order to give
+			// enough time to store-gateways to discover and load them (3 times the sync interval)
+			mimir_tsdb.NewBlockDiscoveryDelayMultiplier*storageCfg.BucketStore.SyncInterval,
+		)
 	} else {
 		expandedReplication = storegateway.NewNopExpandedReplication()
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication.go b/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication.go
index 55dfade222..b10190089b 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	errInvalidExpandedReplicationMaxTimeThreshold = errors.New("invalid expanded replication max time threshold, the value must be greater than 0")
+	errInvalidExpandedReplicationMaxTimeThreshold = errors.New("invalid expanded replication max time threshold, the value must be at least one hour")
 )
 
 type ExpandedReplicationConfig struct {
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func (cfg *ExpandedReplicationConfig) RegisterFlagsWithPrefix(f *flag.FlagSet, p
 }
 
 func (cfg *ExpandedReplicationConfig) Validate() error {
-	if cfg.Enabled && cfg.MaxTimeThreshold <= 0 {
+	if cfg.Enabled && cfg.MaxTimeThreshold < time.Hour {
 		return errInvalidExpandedReplicationMaxTimeThreshold
 	}
 
@@ -54,20 +54,27 @@ func (n NopExpandedReplication) Eligible(ReplicatedBlock) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-func NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(maxTime time.Duration) *MaxTimeExpandedReplication {
-	return &MaxTimeExpandedReplication{maxTime: maxTime, now: time.Now}
+func NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(maxTime time.Duration, gracePeriod time.Duration) *MaxTimeExpandedReplication {
+	return &MaxTimeExpandedReplication{
+		maxTime:     maxTime,
+		gracePeriod: gracePeriod,
+		now:         time.Now,
+	}
 }
 
 // MaxTimeExpandedReplication is an ExpandedReplication implementation that determines
 // if a block is eligible for expanded replication based on how recent its MaxTime (most
-// recent sample) is.
+// recent sample) is. A grace period can optionally be used during queries to ensure that
+// blocks are not expected to be replicated to store-gateways that may not have yet had a
+// chance to sync them.
 type MaxTimeExpandedReplication struct {
-	maxTime time.Duration
-	now     func() time.Time
+	maxTime     time.Duration
+	gracePeriod time.Duration
+	now         func() time.Time
 }
 
 func (e *MaxTimeExpandedReplication) Eligible(b ReplicatedBlock) bool {
 	now := e.now()
 	delta := now.Sub(b.GetMaxTime())
-	return delta <= e.maxTime
+	return delta <= (e.maxTime - e.gracePeriod)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication_test.go b/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication_test.go
index 8ab52a9c5f..b957c1d1b1 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/expanded_replication_test.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func TestMaxTimeExpandedReplication_Eligible(t *testing.T) {
 	// Round "now" to the nearest millisecond since we are using millisecond precision
 	// for min/max times for the blocks.
 	now := time.Now().Round(time.Millisecond)
-	replication := NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(2 * time.Hour)
+	replication := NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(2*time.Hour, 15*time.Minute)
 	replication.now = func() time.Time { return now }
 
 	t.Run("max time outside limit", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -29,13 +29,23 @@ func TestMaxTimeExpandedReplication_Eligible(t *testing.T) {
 		require.False(t, replication.Eligible(&b))
 	})
 
-	t.Run("max time on limit", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("max time within grace period", func(t *testing.T) {
 		b := block.Meta{
 			BlockMeta: tsdb.BlockMeta{
 				MinTime: now.Add(-4 * time.Hour).UnixMilli(),
 				MaxTime: now.Add(-2 * time.Hour).UnixMilli(),
 			},
 		}
+		require.False(t, replication.Eligible(&b))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("max time on grace period", func(t *testing.T) {
+		b := block.Meta{
+			BlockMeta: tsdb.BlockMeta{
+				MinTime: now.Add(-4 * time.Hour).UnixMilli(),
+				MaxTime: now.Add(-105 * time.Minute).UnixMilli(),
+			},
+		}
 		require.True(t, replication.Eligible(&b))
 	})
 
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/gateway.go b/pkg/storegateway/gateway.go
index 3570326947..39f338fe78 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/gateway.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/gateway.go
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ func newStoreGateway(gatewayCfg Config, storageCfg mimir_tsdb.BlocksStorageConfi
 
 	var expandedReplication ExpandedReplication
 	if gatewayCfg.ExpandedReplication.Enabled {
-		expandedReplication = NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(gatewayCfg.ExpandedReplication.MaxTimeThreshold)
+		expandedReplication = NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(gatewayCfg.ExpandedReplication.MaxTimeThreshold, 0)
 	} else {
 		expandedReplication = NewNopExpandedReplication()
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy.go b/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy.go
index 8869bfb8cd..7cca98a1ea 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package storegateway
 
 import (
 	"context"
+
 	"github.com/go-kit/log"
 	"github.com/go-kit/log/level"
 	"github.com/grafana/dskit/ring"
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy_test.go b/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy_test.go
index 167f57fab5..fdc14904c7 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/sharding_strategy_test.go
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ func TestShuffleShardingStrategy(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		"multiple ACTIVE instances in the ring with RF = 1 and SS = 3 and ER = true": {
 			replicationFactor:   1,
-			expandedReplication: NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(25 * time.Hour),
+			expandedReplication: NewMaxTimeExpandedReplication(25*time.Hour, 45*time.Minute),
 			limits:              &shardingLimitsMock{storeGatewayTenantShardSize: 3},
 			setupRing: func(r *ring.Desc) {
 				r.AddIngester("instance-1", "127.0.0.1", "", []uint32{block1Hash + 1, block3Hash + 1}, ring.ACTIVE, registeredAt, false, time.Time{})