diff --git a/src/sc.cpp b/src/sc.cpp
index 776a7aef..3c3759d6 100644
--- a/src/sc.cpp
+++ b/src/sc.cpp
@@ -199,10 +199,15 @@ namespace sc
     {
         // In readonly mode, we must start the hpfs process first.
         // In RW mode, there is a global hpfs RW process so we only need to create an fs session.
-        if (ctx.args.readonly && hpfs::start_ro_rw_process(ctx.hpfs_pid, ctx.args.state_dir, true, false, false) == -1)
-            return -1;
+        if (ctx.args.readonly)
+        {
+            if (hpfs::start_ro_rw_process(ctx.hpfs_pid, ctx.args.state_dir, true, false, false) == -1)
+                return -1;
+        }
         else
+        {
             ctx.hpfs_pid = hpfs_rw_pid;
+        }
 
         if (hpfs::start_fs_session(ctx.args.state_dir) == -1)
             return -1;
@@ -222,14 +227,14 @@ namespace sc
 
         LOG_DEBUG << "Stopping hpfs contract session..." << (ctx.args.readonly ? " (rdonly)" : "");
 
-        // In readonly mode, we must also stop the hpfs process itself.
-        // In RW mode, we only need to stop the fs session and let the RW process keep running.
-        if (ctx.args.readonly && util::kill_process(ctx.hpfs_pid, true) == -1)
-            result = -1;
-
         if (hpfs::stop_fs_session(ctx.args.state_dir) == -1)
             return -1;
 
+        // In readonly mode, we must also stop the hpfs process itself after sopping the session.
+        // In RW mode, we only need to stop the fs session and let the process keep running.
+        if (ctx.args.readonly && util::kill_process(ctx.hpfs_pid, true) == -1)
+            result = -1;
+
         ctx.hpfs_pid = 0;
         return result;
     }