diff --git a/server-tools/persona-compute-pool/entry_service.py b/server-tools/persona-compute-pool/entry_service.py
index 9f72d7b..f06bbe9 100644
--- a/server-tools/persona-compute-pool/entry_service.py
+++ b/server-tools/persona-compute-pool/entry_service.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def write_state(value):
     STATE.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True); tmp=STATE.with_suffix('.tmp'); tmp.write_text(json.dumps(value,ensure_ascii=False,indent=2)+'\n'); tmp.replace(STATE)
 
 def normalized_state():
-    value=read_state(); value.setdefault('workers',{}); value.setdefault('leases',{}); value.setdefault('registered_workers',len(value['workers'])); return value
+    value=read_state(); value.setdefault('workers',{}); value.setdefault('leases',{}); value.setdefault('registered_workers',len(value['workers'])); value['state']='READY_MTLS_TUNNEL'; return value
 
 def authorized(handler):
     try: