diff --git a/client/client.go b/client/client.go
index f39ad3116..757f32799 100644
--- a/client/client.go
+++ b/client/client.go
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ func NewClient(cfg *config.Config, consulCatalog consul.CatalogAPI, consulServic
 	// Set the preconfigured list of static servers
 	c.configLock.RLock()
 	if len(c.configCopy.Servers) > 0 {
-		if err := c.SetServers(c.configCopy.Servers); err != nil {
+		if err := c.setServersImpl(c.configCopy.Servers, true); err != nil {
 			logger.Printf("[WARN] client: None of the configured servers are valid: %v", err)
 		}
 	}
@@ -605,6 +605,16 @@ func (c *Client) GetServers() []string {
 // SetServers sets a new list of nomad servers to connect to. As long as one
 // server is resolvable no error is returned.
 func (c *Client) SetServers(in []string) error {
+	return c.setServersImpl(in, false)
+}
+
+// setServersImpl sets a new list of nomad servers to connect to. If force is
+// set, we add the server to the internal severlist even if the server could not
+// be pinged. An error is returned if no endpoints were valid when non-forcing.
+//
+// Force should be used when setting the servers from the initial configuration
+// since the server may be starting up in parallel and initial pings may fail.
+func (c *Client) setServersImpl(in []string, force bool) error {
 	var mu sync.Mutex
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	var merr multierror.Error
@@ -625,7 +635,12 @@ func (c *Client) SetServers(in []string) error {
 			// Try to ping to check if it is a real server
 			if err := c.Ping(addr); err != nil {
 				merr.Errors = append(merr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Server at address %s failed ping: %v", addr, err))
-				return
+
+				// If we are forcing the setting of the servers, inject it to
+				// the serverlist even if we can't ping immediately.
+				if !force {
+					return
+				}
 			}
 
 			mu.Lock()
diff --git a/client/client_test.go b/client/client_test.go
index a612ba71b..13d4debfb 100644
--- a/client/client_test.go
+++ b/client/client_test.go
@@ -905,10 +905,9 @@ func TestClient_ReloadTLS_DowngradeTLSToPlaintext(t *testing.T) {
 				return false, fmt.Errorf("client RPC succeeded when it should have failed :\n%+v", err)
 			}
 			return true, nil
+		}, func(err error) {
+			t.Fatalf(err.Error())
 		},
-			func(err error) {
-				t.Fatalf(err.Error())
-			},
 		)
 	}
 
@@ -931,10 +930,9 @@ func TestClient_ReloadTLS_DowngradeTLSToPlaintext(t *testing.T) {
 				return false, fmt.Errorf("client RPC failed when it should have succeeded:\n%+v", err)
 			}
 			return true, nil
+		}, func(err error) {
+			t.Fatalf(err.Error())
 		},
-			func(err error) {
-				t.Fatalf(err.Error())
-			},
 		)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/client/servers/manager.go b/client/servers/manager.go
index 604b109a2..6dac0c7e4 100644
--- a/client/servers/manager.go
+++ b/client/servers/manager.go
@@ -98,18 +98,6 @@ func (s Servers) cycle() {
 	s[numServers-1] = start
 }
 
-// removeServerByKey performs an inline removal of the first matching server
-func (s Servers) removeServerByKey(targetKey string) {
-	for i, srv := range s {
-		if targetKey == srv.String() {
-			copy(s[i:], s[i+1:])
-			s[len(s)-1] = nil
-			s = s[:len(s)-1]
-			return
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 // shuffle shuffles the server list in place
 func (s Servers) shuffle() {
 	for i := len(s) - 1; i > 0; i-- {