diff --git a/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.spec.ts b/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.spec.ts
index a171b7b68..3b0a9d396 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.spec.ts
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ test('getModelsInfo should get models in local directory', async () => {
     modelHandlerRegistry,
   );
   modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-  manager.init();
+  await manager.init();
   await manager.loadLocalModels();
   expect(manager.getModelsInfo()).toEqual([
     {
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ test('getModelsInfo should return an empty array if the models folder does not e
     modelHandlerRegistry,
   );
   modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-  manager.init();
+  await manager.init();
   await manager.getLocalModelsFromDisk();
   expect(manager.getModelsInfo()).toEqual([]);
   if (process.platform === 'win32') {
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ test('getLocalModelsFromDisk should return undefined Date and size when stat fai
     modelHandlerRegistry,
   );
   modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-  manager.init();
+  await manager.init();
   await manager.loadLocalModels();
   expect(manager.getModelsInfo()).toEqual([
     {
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ test('getLocalModelsFromDisk should skip folders containing tmp files', async ()
     modelHandlerRegistry,
   );
   modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-  manager.init();
+  await manager.init();
   await manager.loadLocalModels();
   expect(manager.getModelsInfo()).toEqual([
     {
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ test('loadLocalModels should post a message with the message on disk and on cata
     modelHandlerRegistry,
   );
   modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-  manager.init();
+  await manager.init();
   await manager.loadLocalModels();
   expect(rpcExtensionMock.fire).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, MSG_NEW_MODELS_STATE, [
     {
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ test('deleteModel deletes the model folder', async () => {
     modelHandlerRegistry,
   );
   modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-  manager.init();
+  await manager.init();
   await manager.loadLocalModels();
   await manager.deleteModel('model-id-1');
   // check that the model's folder is removed from disk
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ describe('deleting models', () => {
       modelHandlerRegistry,
     );
     modelHandlerRegistry.register(new URLModelHandler(manager, modelsDir));
-    manager.init();
+    await manager.init();
     await manager.loadLocalModels();
     await manager.deleteModel('model-id-1');
     // check that the model's folder is removed from disk
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ describe('getModelMetadata', () => {
       modelHandlerRegistry,
     );
 
-    manager.init();
+    await manager.init();
 
     const fakeMetadata: Record<string, string> = {
       hello: 'world',
@@ -939,7 +939,7 @@ describe('getModelMetadata', () => {
       modelHandlerRegistry,
     );
 
-    manager.init();
+    await manager.init();
 
     const fakeMetadata: Record<string, string> = {
       hello: 'world',
@@ -995,7 +995,7 @@ describe('uploadModelToPodmanMachine', () => {
       modelHandlerRegistry,
     );
 
-    manager.init();
+    await manager.init();
     const result = await manager.uploadModelToPodmanMachine(connectionMock, modelMock);
     expect(result).toBe('uploader-result');
     expect(performMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(modelMock.id);
@@ -1028,7 +1028,7 @@ describe('uploadModelToPodmanMachine', () => {
       modelHandlerRegistry,
     );
 
-    manager.init();
+    await manager.init();
     await manager.uploadModelToPodmanMachine(connectionMock, modelMock);
     expect(Uploader).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.ts b/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.ts
index 09a26c0cf..0633486e7 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/managers/modelsManager.ts
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export class ModelsManager implements Disposable {
     this.modelHandlerRegistry.getAll().forEach(handler => handler.onUpdate(this.loadLocalModels));
   }
 
-  init(): void {
+  async init(): Promise<void> {
     const disposable = this.catalogManager.onUpdate(() => {
       this.loadLocalModels().catch((err: unknown) => {
         console.error(`Something went wrong when loading local models`, err);
@@ -71,9 +71,11 @@ export class ModelsManager implements Disposable {
     });
     this.#disposables.push(disposable);
 
-    this.loadLocalModels().catch((err: unknown) => {
+    try {
+      await this.loadLocalModels();
+    } catch (err: unknown) {
       console.error('Something went wrong while trying to load local models', err);
-    });
+    }
   }
 
   dispose(): void {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/studio.ts b/packages/backend/src/studio.ts
index 0f6f051cd..c54d2c9c5 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/studio.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/studio.ts
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ export class Studio {
     const hfModelHandler = new HuggingFaceModelHandler(this.#modelsManager);
     this.#extensionContext.subscriptions.push(hfModelHandler);
     this.#extensionContext.subscriptions.push(modelHandlerRegistry.register(hfModelHandler));
-    this.#modelsManager.init();
+    await this.#modelsManager.init();
     this.#extensionContext.subscriptions.push(this.#modelsManager);
 
     /**