diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4a6324756..6023e5c1b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Changelog for FrostFS Node
 - Storage engine now can start even when some shard components are unavailable (#2238)
 - `neofs-cli` buffer for object put increased from 4 KiB to 3 MiB (#2243)
 - Expired locked object is available for reading (#56)
+- Initialize write-cache asynchronously (#32)
 
 ### Fixed
 - Increase payload size metric on shards' `put` operation (#1794)
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/internal/storagetest/storage.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/internal/storagetest/storage.go
index 658ff71da..1578c3a4e 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/internal/storagetest/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/internal/storagetest/storage.go
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ func TestSetMode(t *testing.T, cons Constructor, m mode.Mode) {
 		require.NoError(t, s.Open(false))
 		require.NoError(t, s.Init())
 		require.NoError(t, s.SetMode(m))
+		require.NoError(t, s.Close())
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush.go
index f4fce0d0a..6583b0ec3 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func (c *cache) flushDB() {
 		m = m[:0]
 
 		c.modeMtx.RLock()
-		if c.readOnly() {
+		if c.readOnly() || !c.initialized.Load() {
 			c.modeMtx.RUnlock()
 			time.Sleep(time.Second)
 			continue
@@ -151,6 +151,9 @@ func (c *cache) flushBigObjects() {
 			if c.readOnly() {
 				c.modeMtx.RUnlock()
 				break
+			} else if !c.initialized.Load() {
+				c.modeMtx.RUnlock()
+				continue
 			}
 
 			_ = c.flushFSTree(true)
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush_test.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush_test.go
index 6049b79af..c5eab8448 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush_test.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/flush_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	objectCore "github.com/TrueCloudLab/frostfs-node/pkg/core/object"
 	"github.com/TrueCloudLab/frostfs-node/pkg/local_object_storage/blobstor"
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ func TestFlush(t *testing.T) {
 				WithBlobstor(bs),
 			}, opts...)...)
 		require.NoError(t, wc.Open(false))
-		require.NoError(t, wc.Init())
+		initWC(t, wc)
 
 		// First set mode for metabase and blobstor to prevent background flushes.
 		require.NoError(t, mb.SetMode(mode.ReadOnly))
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ func TestFlush(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Open in read-only: no error, nothing is removed.
 		require.NoError(t, wc.Open(true))
-		require.NoError(t, wc.Init())
+		initWC(t, wc)
 		for i := range objects {
 			_, err := wc.Get(objects[i].addr)
 			require.NoError(t, err, i)
@@ -271,7 +272,7 @@ func TestFlush(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Open in read-write: no error, something is removed.
 		require.NoError(t, wc.Open(false))
-		require.NoError(t, wc.Init())
+		initWC(t, wc)
 		for i := range objects {
 			_, err := wc.Get(objects[i].addr)
 			if i < 2 {
@@ -316,6 +317,15 @@ func newObject(t *testing.T, size int) (*object.Object, []byte) {
 	return obj, data
 }
 
+func initWC(t *testing.T, wc Cache) {
+	require.NoError(t, wc.Init())
+
+	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
+		rawWc := wc.(*cache)
+		return rawWc.initialized.Load()
+	}, 100*time.Second, 1*time.Millisecond)
+}
+
 type dummyEpoch struct{}
 
 func (dummyEpoch) CurrentEpoch() uint64 {
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/init.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/init.go
index 2c8bcf9c8..ccf870364 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/init.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/init.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package writecache
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/TrueCloudLab/frostfs-node/pkg/local_object_storage/blobstor/common"
 	storagelog "github.com/TrueCloudLab/frostfs-node/pkg/local_object_storage/internal/log"
@@ -13,10 +14,57 @@ import (
 )
 
 func (c *cache) initFlushMarks() {
+	var localWG sync.WaitGroup
+
+	localWG.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer localWG.Done()
+
+		c.fsTreeFlushMarkUpdate()
+	}()
+
+	localWG.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer localWG.Done()
+
+		c.dbFlushMarkUpdate()
+	}()
+
+	c.initWG.Add(1)
+	c.wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer c.wg.Done()
+		defer c.initWG.Done()
+
+		localWG.Wait()
+
+		select {
+		case <-c.stopInitCh:
+			return
+		case <-c.closeCh:
+			return
+		default:
+		}
+
+		c.initialized.Store(true)
+	}()
+}
+
+var errStopIter = errors.New("stop iteration")
+
+func (c *cache) fsTreeFlushMarkUpdate() {
 	c.log.Info("filling flush marks for objects in FSTree")
 
 	var prm common.IteratePrm
 	prm.LazyHandler = func(addr oid.Address, _ func() ([]byte, error)) error {
+		select {
+		case <-c.closeCh:
+			return errStopIter
+		case <-c.stopInitCh:
+			return errStopIter
+		default:
+		}
+
 		flushed, needRemove := c.flushStatus(addr)
 		if flushed {
 			c.store.flushed.Add(addr.EncodeToString(), true)
@@ -37,7 +85,10 @@ func (c *cache) initFlushMarks() {
 		return nil
 	}
 	_, _ = c.fsTree.Iterate(prm)
+	c.log.Info("finished updating FSTree flush marks")
+}
 
+func (c *cache) dbFlushMarkUpdate() {
 	c.log.Info("filling flush marks for objects in database")
 
 	var m []string
@@ -45,6 +96,14 @@ func (c *cache) initFlushMarks() {
 	var lastKey []byte
 	var batchSize = flushBatchSize
 	for {
+		select {
+		case <-c.closeCh:
+			return
+		case <-c.stopInitCh:
+			return
+		default:
+		}
+
 		m = m[:0]
 		indices = indices[:0]
 
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/mode.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/mode.go
index b790cc56c..ec5704a19 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/mode.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/mode.go
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ import (
 // ErrReadOnly is returned when Put/Write is performed in a read-only mode.
 var ErrReadOnly = logicerr.New("write-cache is in read-only mode")
 
+// ErrNotInitialized is returned when write-cache is initializing.
+var ErrNotInitialized = logicerr.New("write-cache is not initialized yet")
+
 // SetMode sets write-cache mode of operation.
 // When shard is put in read-only mode all objects in memory are flushed to disk
 // and all background jobs are suspended.
@@ -18,15 +21,36 @@ func (c *cache) SetMode(m mode.Mode) error {
 	c.modeMtx.Lock()
 	defer c.modeMtx.Unlock()
 
-	if m.NoMetabase() && !c.mode.NoMetabase() {
-		err := c.flush(true)
+	return c.setMode(m)
+}
+
+// setMode applies new mode. Must be called with cache.modeMtx lock taken.
+func (c *cache) setMode(m mode.Mode) error {
+	var err error
+	turnOffMeta := m.NoMetabase()
+
+	if turnOffMeta && !c.mode.NoMetabase() {
+		err = c.flush(true)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 
+	if !c.initialized.Load() {
+		close(c.stopInitCh)
+
+		c.initWG.Wait()
+		c.stopInitCh = make(chan struct{})
+
+		defer func() {
+			if err == nil && !turnOffMeta {
+				c.initFlushMarks()
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
 	if c.db != nil {
-		if err := c.db.Close(); err != nil {
+		if err = c.db.Close(); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("can't close write-cache database: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
@@ -39,12 +63,12 @@ func (c *cache) SetMode(m mode.Mode) error {
 		time.Sleep(time.Second)
 	}
 
-	if m.NoMetabase() {
+	if turnOffMeta {
 		c.mode = m
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if err := c.openStore(m.ReadOnly()); err != nil {
+	if err = c.openStore(m.ReadOnly()); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/put.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/put.go
index 9396f3a68..ea49f66c4 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/put.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/put.go
@@ -16,11 +16,18 @@ var (
 )
 
 // Put puts object to write-cache.
+//
+// Returns ErrReadOnly if write-cache is in R/O mode.
+// Returns ErrNotInitialized if write-cache has not been initialized yet.
+// Returns ErrOutOfSpace if saving an object leads to WC's size overflow.
+// Returns ErrBigObject if an objects exceeds maximum object size.
 func (c *cache) Put(prm common.PutPrm) (common.PutRes, error) {
 	c.modeMtx.RLock()
 	defer c.modeMtx.RUnlock()
 	if c.readOnly() {
 		return common.PutRes{}, ErrReadOnly
+	} else if !c.initialized.Load() {
+		return common.PutRes{}, ErrNotInitialized
 	}
 
 	sz := uint64(len(prm.RawData))
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/storage.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/storage.go
index da533880e..d8aa5b630 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/storage.go
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ func (c *cache) openStore(readOnly bool) error {
 	if c.flushed == nil {
 		c.flushed, _ = lru.NewWithEvict[string, bool](c.maxFlushedMarksCount, c.removeFlushed)
 	}
+
+	c.initialized.Store(false)
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/writecache.go b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/writecache.go
index fa52c08a0..f7785d142 100644
--- a/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/writecache.go
+++ b/pkg/local_object_storage/writecache/writecache.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/TrueCloudLab/frostfs-sdk-go/object"
 	oid "github.com/TrueCloudLab/frostfs-sdk-go/object/id"
 	"go.etcd.io/bbolt"
+	"go.uber.org/atomic"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
@@ -48,8 +49,11 @@ type cache struct {
 	// mtx protects statistics, counters and compressFlags.
 	mtx sync.RWMutex
 
-	mode    mode.Mode
-	modeMtx sync.RWMutex
+	mode        mode.Mode
+	initialized atomic.Bool
+	stopInitCh  chan struct{}  // used to sync initWG initialisation routines and _only_ them
+	initWG      sync.WaitGroup // for initialisation routines only
+	modeMtx     sync.RWMutex
 
 	// compressFlags maps address of a big object to boolean value indicating
 	// whether object should be compressed.
@@ -57,7 +61,7 @@ type cache struct {
 
 	// flushCh is a channel with objects to flush.
 	flushCh chan *object.Object
-	// closeCh is close channel.
+	// closeCh is close channel, protected by modeMtx.
 	closeCh chan struct{}
 	// wg is a wait group for flush workers.
 	wg sync.WaitGroup
@@ -89,8 +93,9 @@ var (
 // New creates new writecache instance.
 func New(opts ...Option) Cache {
 	c := &cache{
-		flushCh: make(chan *object.Object),
-		mode:    mode.ReadWrite,
+		flushCh:    make(chan *object.Object),
+		mode:       mode.ReadWrite,
+		stopInitCh: make(chan struct{}),
 
 		compressFlags: make(map[string]struct{}),
 		options: options{
@@ -151,8 +156,11 @@ func (c *cache) Init() error {
 
 // Close closes db connection and stops services. Executes ObjectCounters.FlushAndClose op.
 func (c *cache) Close() error {
+	c.modeMtx.Lock()
+	defer c.modeMtx.Unlock()
+
 	// Finish all in-progress operations.
-	if err := c.SetMode(mode.ReadOnly); err != nil {
+	if err := c.setMode(mode.ReadOnly); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -164,6 +172,8 @@ func (c *cache) Close() error {
 		c.closeCh = nil
 	}
 
+	c.initialized.Store(false)
+
 	var err error
 	if c.db != nil {
 		err = c.db.Close()