diff --git a/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs b/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
index d645f3b7b6478..c346ef2106683 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
@@ -699,6 +699,8 @@ async fn timeline_archival_config_handler(
     let tenant_shard_id: TenantShardId = parse_request_param(&request, "tenant_shard_id")?;
     let timeline_id: TimelineId = parse_request_param(&request, "timeline_id")?;
 
+    let ctx = RequestContext::new(TaskKind::MgmtRequest, DownloadBehavior::Warn);
+
     let request_data: TimelineArchivalConfigRequest = json_request(&mut request).await?;
     check_permission(&request, Some(tenant_shard_id.tenant_id))?;
     let state = get_state(&request);
@@ -709,7 +711,7 @@ async fn timeline_archival_config_handler(
             .get_attached_tenant_shard(tenant_shard_id)?;
 
         tenant
-            .apply_timeline_archival_config(timeline_id, request_data.state)
+            .apply_timeline_archival_config(timeline_id, request_data.state, ctx)
             .await?;
         Ok::<_, ApiError>(())
     }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
index 009d58df00c2e..8c64cd184a2e7 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
@@ -1366,9 +1366,11 @@ impl Tenant {
         let mut part_downloads = JoinSet::new();
         for timeline_id in timeline_ids {
             let cancel_clone = cancel.clone();
-            part_downloads.spawn(
-                self.clone().load_timeline_metadata(timeline_id, remote_storage.clone(), cancel_clone)
-            );
+            part_downloads.spawn(self.clone().load_timeline_metadata(
+                timeline_id,
+                remote_storage.clone(),
+                cancel_clone,
+            ));
         }
 
         let mut timeline_preloads: HashMap<TimelineId, TimelinePreload> = HashMap::new();
@@ -1397,9 +1399,10 @@ impl Tenant {
     }
 
     pub(crate) async fn apply_timeline_archival_config(
-        &self,
+        self: &Arc<Self>,
         timeline_id: TimelineId,
         state: TimelineArchivalState,
+        ctx: RequestContext,
     ) -> Result<(), TimelineArchivalError> {
         info!("setting timeline archival config");
         let timeline_or_unarchive_offloaded = 'outer: {
@@ -1465,26 +1468,85 @@ impl Tenant {
             Some(Arc::clone(timeline))
         };
 
-        if let Some(timeline) = timeline_or_unarchive_offloaded {
-            let upload_needed = timeline
-                .remote_client
-                .schedule_index_upload_for_timeline_archival_state(state)?;
-
-            if upload_needed {
-                info!("Uploading new state");
-                const MAX_WAIT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
-                let Ok(v) =
-                    tokio::time::timeout(MAX_WAIT, timeline.remote_client.wait_completion()).await
-                else {
-                    tracing::warn!("reached timeout for waiting on upload queue");
-                    return Err(TimelineArchivalError::Timeout);
-                };
-                v.map_err(|e| TimelineArchivalError::Other(anyhow::anyhow!(e)))?;
-            }
-            Ok(())
+        let timeline = if let Some(timeline) = timeline_or_unarchive_offloaded {
+            timeline
         } else {
-            Ok(())
+            let cancel = self.cancel.clone();
+            let timeline_preload = Self::load_timeline_metadata(
+                self.clone(),
+                timeline_id,
+                self.remote_storage.clone(),
+                cancel,
+            )
+            .await?;
+
+            let index_part = match timeline_preload.index_part {
+                Ok(index_part) => {
+                    debug!("remote index part exists for timeline {timeline_id}");
+                    index_part
+                }
+                Err(DownloadError::NotFound) => {
+                    info!(%timeline_id, "index_part not found on remote");
+                    return Err(TimelineArchivalError::NotFound);
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    // Some (possibly ephemeral) error happened during index_part download.
+                    warn!(%timeline_id, "Failed to load index_part from remote storage, failed creation? ({e})");
+                    return Err(TimelineArchivalError::Other(
+                        anyhow::Error::new(e).context("downloading index_part from remote storage"),
+                    ));
+                }
+            };
+            let index_part = match index_part {
+                MaybeDeletedIndexPart::IndexPart(index_part) => index_part,
+                MaybeDeletedIndexPart::Deleted(_index_part) => {
+                    info!("timeline is deleted according to index_part.json");
+                    return Err(TimelineArchivalError::NotFound);
+                }
+            };
+            let remote_metadata = index_part.metadata.clone();
+            let timeline_resources = self.build_timeline_resources(timeline_id);
+            self.load_remote_timeline(
+                timeline_id,
+                index_part,
+                remote_metadata,
+                timeline_resources,
+                &ctx,
+            )
+            .await
+            .with_context(|| {
+                format!(
+                    "failed to load remote timeline {} for tenant {}",
+                    timeline_id, self.tenant_shard_id
+                )
+            })?;
+            let timelines = self.timelines.lock().unwrap();
+            if let Some(timeline) = timelines.get(&timeline_id) {
+                Arc::clone(timeline)
+            } else {
+                warn!("timeline not available directly after attach");
+                return Err(TimelineArchivalError::Other(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                    "timeline not available directly after attach"
+                )));
+            }
+        };
+
+        let upload_needed = timeline
+            .remote_client
+            .schedule_index_upload_for_timeline_archival_state(state)?;
+
+        if upload_needed {
+            info!("Uploading new state");
+            const MAX_WAIT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
+            let Ok(v) =
+                tokio::time::timeout(MAX_WAIT, timeline.remote_client.wait_completion()).await
+            else {
+                tracing::warn!("reached timeout for waiting on upload queue");
+                return Err(TimelineArchivalError::Timeout);
+            };
+            v.map_err(|e| TimelineArchivalError::Other(anyhow::anyhow!(e)))?;
         }
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn tenant_shard_id(&self) -> TenantShardId {