diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs
index a10410408c..e2def6dfc0 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Raven.Client.Documents;
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ public async Task Execute(IDocumentStore documentStore, CancellationToken cancel
 
         await CreateIndexes(documentStore, configuration.EnableFullTextSearch, cancellationToken);
 
+        await LicenseStatusCheck.WaitForLicenseOrThrow(configuration, cancellationToken);
         await ConfigureExpiration(documentStore, cancellationToken);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/LicenseStatusCheck.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/LicenseStatusCheck.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9aee22a425
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB/LicenseStatusCheck.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+namespace ServiceControl.Audit.Persistence.RavenDB;
+
+using System;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Net.Http.Json;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+static class LicenseStatusCheck
+{
+    record LicenseStatusFragment(string Id, string LicensedTo, string Status, bool Expired);
+
+    public static async Task WaitForLicenseOrThrow(DatabaseConfiguration configuration, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        using var client = new HttpClient
+        {
+            BaseAddress = new Uri(configuration.ServerConfiguration.ConnectionString ?? configuration.ServerConfiguration.ServerUrl)
+        };
+
+        // Not linking to the incoming cancellationToken to ensure no OperationCancelledException prevents the last InvalidOperationException to be thrown
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(30_000);
+        while (!cts.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            var httpResponse = await client.GetAsync("license/status", cancellationToken);
+            var licenseStatus = await httpResponse.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<LicenseStatusFragment>(cancellationToken);
+            if (licenseStatus.Expired)
+            {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("The current RavenDB license is expired. Please, contact support");
+            }
+
+            if (licenseStatus.LicensedTo != null && licenseStatus.Id != null)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            await Task.Delay(200, cancellationToken);
+        }
+
+        throw new InvalidOperationException("Cannot validate the current RavenDB license. Please, contact support");
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs
index 89ea46ec3a..c77342946b 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/DatabaseSetup.cs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ public async Task Execute(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
 
             await IndexCreation.CreateIndexesAsync(typeof(DatabaseSetup).Assembly, documentStore, null, null, cancellationToken);
 
+            await LicenseStatusCheck.WaitForLicenseOrThrow(settings, cancellationToken);
             await ConfigureExpiration(settings, cancellationToken);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/LicenseStatusCheck.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/LicenseStatusCheck.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..deb1956cc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB/LicenseStatusCheck.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+namespace ServiceControl.Persistence.RavenDB;
+
+using System;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Net.Http.Json;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+static class LicenseStatusCheck
+{
+    record LicenseStatusFragment(string Id, string LicensedTo, string Status, bool Expired);
+
+    public static async Task WaitForLicenseOrThrow(RavenPersisterSettings configuration, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        using var client = new HttpClient
+        {
+            BaseAddress = new Uri(configuration.ConnectionString ?? configuration.ServerUrl)
+        };
+
+        // Not linking to the incoming cancellationToken to ensure no OperationCancelledException prevents the last InvalidOperationException to be thrown
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(30_000);
+        while (!cts.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            var httpResponse = await client.GetAsync("license/status", cancellationToken);
+            var licenseStatus = await httpResponse.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<LicenseStatusFragment>(cancellationToken);
+            if (licenseStatus.Expired)
+            {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("The current RavenDB license is expired. Please, contact support");
+            }
+
+            if (licenseStatus.LicensedTo != null && licenseStatus.Id != null)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            await Task.Delay(200, cancellationToken);
+        }
+
+        throw new InvalidOperationException("Cannot validate the current RavenDB license. Please, contact support");
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file