diff --git a/pytorch_impl/applications/LEARN/demo.py b/pytorch_impl/applications/LEARN/demo.py
index 063a4fb..9cd11b2 100644
--- a/pytorch_impl/applications/LEARN/demo.py
+++ b/pytorch_impl/applications/LEARN/demo.py
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ def node(
     non_iid,
     q,
     port,
+    sync,
 ):
     logger.debug("**** SETUP AT NODE %s ***", rank)
     logger.debug("Number of nodes: %d", n)
@@ -123,6 +124,8 @@ def node(
     logger.debug("Assume Non-iid data? %s", non_iid)
     logger.debug("------------------------------------")
 
+    sync.put(True)
+
     gar = aggregators.gars.get(gar)
 
     torch.manual_seed(1234)  # For reproducibility
@@ -244,6 +247,7 @@ def node(
 class Trainer:
     TIMEOUT_PROGRESS_SEC = 1 * 60
     TIMEOUT_TERMINATE_SEC = 10
+    MAX_ATTEMPTS_STARTUP = 5
 
     def __init__(self, n, f, gar, port):
         if n < 1 or n > 10:
@@ -272,35 +276,59 @@ def train(self):
         self.status = {rank: -1 for rank in range(self.n)}
 
         q = mp.Queue()
-
-        ps = []
-        for rank in range(self.n):
-            logger.info("Starting process with rank %d", rank)
-            p = mp.Process(
-                target=node,
-                kwargs=dict(
-                    rank=rank,
-                    is_byzantine=(rank < self.f),
-                    world_size=self.n,
-                    batch=batch_size,
-                    model=model,
-                    dataset=dataset,
-                    loss="binary-cross-entropy",
-                    nb_epochs=nb_epochs,
-                    n=self.n,
-                    f=self.f,
-                    gar=self.gar,
-                    optimizer="rmsprop",
-                    opt_args={"lr": 0.001, "momentum": 0.9, "weight_decay": 0.0005},
-                    non_iid=False,
-                    q=q,
-                    port=self.port,
-                ),
-            )
-            p.start()
-            ps.append(p)
-
-        logger.info("Waiting for results")
+        sync = mp.Queue()
+
+        nb_attempt = 0
+        while True:
+            logger.info("Starting processes (attempt # %d)", nb_attempt + 1)
+            ps = []
+            for rank in range(self.n):
+                logger.info("Starting process with rank %d", rank)
+                p = mp.Process(
+                    target=node,
+                    kwargs=dict(
+                        rank=rank,
+                        is_byzantine=(rank < self.f),
+                        world_size=self.n,
+                        batch=batch_size,
+                        model=model,
+                        dataset=dataset,
+                        loss="binary-cross-entropy",
+                        nb_epochs=nb_epochs,
+                        n=self.n,
+                        f=self.f,
+                        gar=self.gar,
+                        optimizer="rmsprop",
+                        opt_args={"lr": 0.001, "momentum": 0.9, "weight_decay": 0.0005},
+                        non_iid=False,
+                        q=q,
+                        port=self.port,
+                        sync=sync,
+                    ),
+                )
+                p.start()
+                ps.append(p)
+
+            # Sometimes a process fails to start properly for an unknown
+            # reason, even though `p.is_alive` and other signs look normal.
+            # This is an attempt to detect the issue early and retry.
+            try:
+                sync.get(timeout=10)
+                for _ in range(len(ps) - 1):
+                    sync.get(timeout=1)
+                break
+            except queue.Empty as exc:
+                # Try to cleanup
+                for p in ps:
+                    p.kill()
+
+                nb_attempt += 1
+                if nb_attempt == self.MAX_ATTEMPTS_STARTUP:
+                    raise Exception("Timeout while syncing processes") from exc
+
+                logger.error("Timeout while syncinc processes, restarting")
+
+        logger.info("All processes synchronized -- waiting for results")
 
         try:
             acc = []