diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b6ce9eaa63b..29ba9491da7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 1. [18331](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/18331): Support organization name in addition to ID in DBRP operations
 1. [18335](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/18335): Disable failing when providing an unexpected error to influx CLI
 1. [18345](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/18345): Have influx delete cmd respect the config
+1. [18385](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/18385): Store initialization for pkger enforced on reads
 
 ### UI Improvements
 
diff --git a/cmd/influxd/launcher/pkger_test.go b/cmd/influxd/launcher/pkger_test.go
index bfed7336b6f..2811e33c073 100644
--- a/cmd/influxd/launcher/pkger_test.go
+++ b/cmd/influxd/launcher/pkger_test.go
@@ -193,17 +193,11 @@ func TestLauncher_Pkger(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	t.Run("managing pkg state with stacks", func(t *testing.T) {
-		t.Run("creating a stack", func(t *testing.T) {
-			_, cleanup := newStackFn(t, pkger.Stack{
-				OrgID:       l.Org.ID,
-				Name:        "first stack",
-				Description: "desc",
-				URLs:        []string{"http://example.com"},
-			})
-			cleanup()
-		})
-
 		t.Run("list stacks", func(t *testing.T) {
+			stacks, err := svc.ListStacks(ctx, l.Org.ID, pkger.ListFilter{})
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Empty(t, stacks)
+
 			newStack1, cleanup1 := newStackFn(t, pkger.Stack{
 				Name: "first stack",
 			})
@@ -251,6 +245,16 @@ func TestLauncher_Pkger(t *testing.T) {
 			})
 		})
 
+		t.Run("creating a stack", func(t *testing.T) {
+			_, cleanup := newStackFn(t, pkger.Stack{
+				OrgID:       l.Org.ID,
+				Name:        "first stack",
+				Description: "desc",
+				URLs:        []string{"http://example.com"},
+			})
+			cleanup()
+		})
+
 		t.Run("delete a stack", func(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Run("should delete the stack and all resources associated with it", func(t *testing.T) {
 				newStack, cleanup := newStackFn(t, pkger.Stack{})
diff --git a/pkger/store.go b/pkger/store.go
index 756fd7e9d43..2ab1acfe64c 100644
--- a/pkger/store.go
+++ b/pkger/store.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/influxdb/v2"
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ type (
 type StoreKV struct {
 	kvStore   kv.Store
 	indexBase *kv.IndexStore
+
+	once sync.Once
 }
 
 var _ Store = (*StoreKV)(nil)
@@ -88,7 +91,7 @@ func (s *StoreKV) ListStacks(ctx context.Context, orgID influxdb.ID, f ListFilte
 	}
 
 	var stacks []Stack
-	err = s.kvStore.View(ctx, func(tx kv.Tx) error {
+	err = s.view(ctx, func(tx kv.Tx) error {
 		return s.indexBase.Find(ctx, tx, kv.FindOpts{
 			CaptureFn: func(key []byte, decodedVal interface{}) error {
 				stack, err := convertStackEntToStack(decodedVal.(*entStack))
@@ -165,7 +168,7 @@ func (s *StoreKV) listStacksByID(ctx context.Context, orgID influxdb.ID, stackID
 // ReadStackByID reads a stack by the provided ID.
 func (s *StoreKV) ReadStackByID(ctx context.Context, id influxdb.ID) (Stack, error) {
 	var stack Stack
-	err := s.kvStore.View(ctx, func(tx kv.Tx) error {
+	err := s.view(ctx, func(tx kv.Tx) error {
 		decodedEnt, err := s.indexBase.FindEnt(ctx, tx, kv.Entity{PK: kv.EncID(id)})
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -256,6 +259,21 @@ func (s *StoreKV) indexStoreBase(resource string) *kv.StoreBase {
 	return kv.NewStoreBase(resource, indexBucket, kv.EncUniqKey, kv.EncIDKey, kv.DecIndexID, decValToEntFn)
 }
 
+func (s *StoreKV) view(ctx context.Context, fn func(tx kv.Tx) error) error {
+	if err := s.lazyInit(ctx); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return s.kvStore.View(ctx, fn)
+}
+
+func (s *StoreKV) lazyInit(ctx context.Context) error {
+	var err error
+	s.once.Do(func() {
+		err = s.Init(ctx)
+	})
+	return err
+}
+
 func convertStackToEnt(stack Stack) (kv.Entity, error) {
 	idBytes, err := stack.ID.Encode()
 	if err != nil {