diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java
index e5ee163..362ead8 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java
@@ -129,6 +129,11 @@
 
     @Override
     public MetadataTransactionContext beginTransaction() throws RemoteException {
+        try {
+            INSTANCE.init();
+        } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+            throw new ACIDException(e);
+        }
         TxnId txnId = createTxnId();
         metadataNode.beginTransaction(txnId);
         return new MetadataTransactionContext(txnId);