diff --git a/docs/software/commands.md b/docs/software/commands.md
index c4dde5790..dc73ec4ba 100644
--- a/docs/software/commands.md
+++ b/docs/software/commands.md
@@ -148,10 +148,12 @@ Command options can only by placed after command.
 * **load-xdr <FILE-NAME>**:  Load an XDR bucket file, for testing.
 * **new-db**: Clears the local database and resets it to the genesis ledger. If
   you connect to the network after that it will catch up from scratch.
-* **new-hist <HISTORY-LABEL> ...**:  Initialize the named history archives
-  HISTORY-LABEL. HISTORY-LABEL should be one of the history archives you have
-  specified in the stellar-core.cfg. This will write a
-  `.well-known/stellar-history.json` file in the archive root.
+* **new-hist [--idempotent] <HISTORY-LABEL> ...**:  Initialize the named
+  history archives HISTORY-LABEL. HISTORY-LABEL should be one of the history
+  archives you have specified in the stellar-core.cfg. This will write a
+  `.well-known/stellar-history.json` file in the archive root. With
+  **--idempotent**, the command succeeds even if the archive is already
+  initialized.
 * **offline-info**: Returns an output similar to `--c info` for an offline
   instance, but written directly to standard output (ignoring log levels).
 * **print-xdr <FILE-NAME>**:  Pretty-print a binary file containing an XDR
diff --git a/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.cpp b/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.cpp
index 20e69a070..7aefee3a8 100644
--- a/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.cpp
+++ b/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.cpp
@@ -197,7 +197,8 @@ HistoryArchiveManager::getCheckLedgerHeaderWork(
 }
 
 bool
-HistoryArchiveManager::initializeHistoryArchive(std::string const& arch) const
+HistoryArchiveManager::initializeHistoryArchive(std::string const& arch,
+                                                bool idempotent) const
 {
     auto archive = getHistoryArchive(arch);
     if (!archive)
@@ -215,6 +216,13 @@ HistoryArchiveManager::initializeHistoryArchive(std::string const& arch) const
         ws.executeWork<GetHistoryArchiveStateWork>(0, archive, "hist-init", 0);
     if (getHas->getState() == BasicWork::State::WORK_SUCCESS)
     {
+        if (idempotent)
+        {
+            CLOG_INFO(History,
+                      "History archive '{}' already initialized; skipping",
+                      arch);
+            return true;
+        }
         CLOG_ERROR(History, "History archive '{}' already initialized!", arch);
         return false;
     }
diff --git a/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.h b/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.h
index 0b310a9cf..da1e8727d 100644
--- a/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.h
+++ b/src/history/HistoryArchiveManager.h
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ class HistoryArchiveManager
 
     // Initialize a named history archive by writing
     // .well-known/stellar-history.json to it.
-    bool initializeHistoryArchive(std::string const& arch) const;
+    bool initializeHistoryArchive(std::string const& arch,
+                                  bool idempotent = false) const;
 
     // Returns whether or not the HistoryManager has any writable history
     // archives (those configured with both a `get` and `put` command).
diff --git a/src/history/test/HistoryTests.cpp b/src/history/test/HistoryTests.cpp
index 0e811557f..d5bd9e97b 100644
--- a/src/history/test/HistoryTests.cpp
+++ b/src/history/test/HistoryTests.cpp
@@ -2190,6 +2190,28 @@ TEST_CASE("initialize existing history store fails", "[history]")
     }
 }
 
+TEST_CASE("initialize existing history store idempotently succeeds",
+          "[history]")
+{
+    Config cfg(getTestConfig(0, Config::TESTDB_BUCKET_DB_PERSISTENT));
+    TmpDirHistoryConfigurator tcfg;
+    cfg = tcfg.configure(cfg, true);
+
+    {
+        VirtualClock clock;
+        Application::pointer app = createTestApplication(clock, cfg);
+        REQUIRE(app->getHistoryArchiveManager().initializeHistoryArchive(
+            tcfg.getArchiveDirName()));
+    }
+
+    {
+        VirtualClock clock;
+        Application::pointer app = createTestApplication(clock, cfg);
+        REQUIRE(app->getHistoryArchiveManager().initializeHistoryArchive(
+            tcfg.getArchiveDirName(), true));
+    }
+}
+
 TEST_CASE("Catchup failure recovery with buffered checkpoint",
           "[history][catchup]")
 {
diff --git a/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp b/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp
index cc6a2cc4c..fc512824b 100644
--- a/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/main/ApplicationUtils.cpp
@@ -1030,7 +1030,8 @@ genSeed()
 }
 
 int
-initializeHistories(Config cfg, std::vector<std::string> const& newHistories)
+initializeHistories(Config cfg, std::vector<std::string> const& newHistories,
+                    bool idempotent)
 {
     VirtualClock clock;
     cfg.setNoListen();
@@ -1038,7 +1039,8 @@ initializeHistories(Config cfg, std::vector<std::string> const& newHistories)
 
     for (auto const& arch : newHistories)
     {
-        if (!app->getHistoryArchiveManager().initializeHistoryArchive(arch))
+        if (!app->getHistoryArchiveManager().initializeHistoryArchive(
+                arch, idempotent))
             return 1;
     }
     return 0;
diff --git a/src/main/ApplicationUtils.h b/src/main/ApplicationUtils.h
index c8a3e8a99..970f2f3de 100644
--- a/src/main/ApplicationUtils.h
+++ b/src/main/ApplicationUtils.h
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ int rebuildLedgerFromBuckets(Config cfg);
 #endif
 void genSeed();
 int initializeHistories(Config cfg,
-                        std::vector<std::string> const& newHistories);
+                        std::vector<std::string> const& newHistories,
+                        bool idempotent = false);
 void writeCatchupInfo(Json::Value const& catchupInfo,
                       std::string const& outputFile);
 int catchup(Application::pointer app, CatchupConfiguration cc,
diff --git a/src/main/CommandLine.cpp b/src/main/CommandLine.cpp
index 2c870bed8..a16a93b4e 100644
--- a/src/main/CommandLine.cpp
+++ b/src/main/CommandLine.cpp
@@ -1501,13 +1501,18 @@ runNewHist(CommandLineArgs const& args)
 {
     CommandLine::ConfigOption configOption;
     std::vector<std::string> newHistories;
+    bool idempotent = false;
 
     return runWithHelp(args,
                        {configurationParser(configOption),
+                        clara::Opt{idempotent}["--idempotent"](
+                            "succeed if the history archive is already "
+                            "initialized"),
                         requiredArgParser(newHistories, "HISTORY-LABEL")},
                        [&] {
                            return initializeHistories(configOption.getConfig(),
-                                                      newHistories);
+                                                      newHistories,
+                                                      idempotent);
                        });
 }