diff --git a/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go b/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go
index 15b1ce78a..48206ed84 100644
--- a/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go
+++ b/pkg/routing/redisrouter.go
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ func (r *RedisRouter) StartParticipantSignal(ctx context.Context, roomName livek
 		return
 	}
 
+	// index by connectionID, since there may be multiple connections for the participant
+	// set up response channel before sending StartSession and be ready to receive responses.
+	resChan := r.getOrCreateMessageChannel(r.responseChannels, string(connectionID))
+
 	sink := NewRTCNodeSink(r.rc, livekit.NodeID(rtcNode.Id), pKey)
 
 	// serialize claims
@@ -169,8 +173,6 @@ func (r *RedisRouter) StartParticipantSignal(ctx context.Context, roomName livek
 		return
 	}
 
-	// index by connectionID, since there may be multiple connections for the participant
-	resChan := r.getOrCreateMessageChannel(r.responseChannels, string(connectionID))
 	return connectionID, sink, resChan, nil
 }