diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 25ec8a8d9a19..50f7ad90a05d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2002,7 +2002,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8d162beedaa69905488a8da94f5ac3edb4dd4788b732fadb7bd120b2625c1976"
 dependencies = [
  "data-encoding",
- "syn 2.0.106",
+ "syn 1.0.109",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4119,9 +4119,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "half"
-version = "2.7.0"
+version = "2.7.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e54c115d4f30f52c67202f079c5f9d8b49db4691f460fdb0b4c2e838261b2ba5"
+checksum = "6ea2d84b969582b4b1864a92dc5d27cd2b77b622a8d79306834f1be5ba20d84b"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "crunchy",
diff --git a/src/chain_sync/chain_follower.rs b/src/chain_sync/chain_follower.rs
index e17f365470c9..a6341b8ea953 100644
--- a/src/chain_sync/chain_follower.rs
+++ b/src/chain_sync/chain_follower.rs
@@ -15,40 +15,36 @@
 //!
 //! The state machine does not do any network requests or validation. Those are
 //! handled by an external actor.
-use crate::libp2p::hello::HelloRequest;
-use crate::message_pool::MessagePool;
-use crate::message_pool::MpoolRpcProvider;
-use crate::networks::calculate_expected_epoch;
-use crate::shim::clock::ChainEpoch;
-use crate::state_manager::StateManager;
-use crate::utils::misc::env::is_env_truthy;
+
+use super::network_context::SyncNetworkContext;
+use crate::{
+    blocks::{Block, FullTipset, Tipset, TipsetKey},
+    chain::ChainStore,
+    chain_sync::{
+        ForkSyncInfo, ForkSyncStage, SyncStatus, SyncStatusReport, TipsetValidator,
+        bad_block_cache::BadBlockCache, metrics, tipset_syncer::validate_tipset,
+    },
+    libp2p::{NetworkEvent, PubsubMessage, hello::HelloRequest},
+    message_pool::{MessagePool, MpoolRpcProvider},
+    networks::calculate_expected_epoch,
+    shim::clock::ChainEpoch,
+    state_manager::StateManager,
+    utils::misc::env::is_env_truthy,
+};
 use ahash::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use chrono::Utc;
 use cid::Cid;
 use fvm_ipld_blockstore::Blockstore;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use libp2p::PeerId;
-use parking_lot::Mutex;
-use std::time::Instant;
-use std::{ops::Deref as _, sync::Arc};
+use parking_lot::{Mutex, RwLock};
+use std::{ops::Deref as _, sync::Arc, time::Instant};
 use tokio::{sync::Notify, task::JoinSet};
 use tracing::{debug, error, info, trace, warn};
 
-use super::network_context::SyncNetworkContext;
-use crate::chain_sync::sync_status::SyncStatusReport;
-use crate::chain_sync::tipset_syncer::validate_tipset;
-use crate::chain_sync::{ForkSyncInfo, ForkSyncStage};
-use crate::{
-    blocks::{Block, FullTipset, Tipset, TipsetKey},
-    chain::ChainStore,
-    chain_sync::{TipsetValidator, bad_block_cache::BadBlockCache, metrics},
-    libp2p::{NetworkEvent, PubsubMessage},
-};
-use parking_lot::RwLock;
-
 pub struct ChainFollower<DB> {
     /// Syncing status of the chain
-    pub sync_status: Arc<RwLock<SyncStatusReport>>,
+    pub sync_status: SyncStatus,
 
     /// manages retrieving and updates state objects
     state_manager: Arc<StateManager<DB>>,
@@ -138,7 +134,7 @@ pub async fn chain_follower<DB: Blockstore + Sync + Send + 'static>(
     tipset_receiver: flume::Receiver<Arc<FullTipset>>,
     network: SyncNetworkContext<DB>,
     mem_pool: Arc<MessagePool<MpoolRpcProvider<DB>>>,
-    sync_status: Arc<RwLock<SyncStatusReport>>,
+    sync_status: SyncStatus,
     genesis: Arc<Tipset>,
     stateless_mode: bool,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
diff --git a/src/chain_sync/mod.rs b/src/chain_sync/mod.rs
index bd27bab6195b..d7c399a56128 100644
--- a/src/chain_sync/mod.rs
+++ b/src/chain_sync/mod.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@ pub use self::{
     chain_follower::{ChainFollower, load_full_tipset},
     chain_muxer::SyncConfig,
     consensus::collect_errs,
-    sync_status::{ForkSyncInfo, ForkSyncStage, NodeSyncStatus, SyncStatusReport},
+    sync_status::{ForkSyncInfo, ForkSyncStage, NodeSyncStatus, SyncStatus, SyncStatusReport},
     validation::{TipsetValidationError, TipsetValidator},
 };
diff --git a/src/chain_sync/sync_status.rs b/src/chain_sync/sync_status.rs
index 892b452f4494..e8f423f7f5de 100644
--- a/src/chain_sync/sync_status.rs
+++ b/src/chain_sync/sync_status.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use crate::shim::clock::ChainEpoch;
 use crate::state_manager::StateManager;
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use fvm_ipld_blockstore::Blockstore;
+use parking_lot::RwLock;
 use schemars::JsonSchema;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::sync::Arc;
@@ -101,6 +102,8 @@ pub struct ForkSyncInfo {
     pub(crate) last_updated: Option<DateTime<Utc>>,
 }
 
+pub type SyncStatus = Arc<RwLock<SyncStatusReport>>;
+
 /// Contains information about the current status of the node's synchronization process.
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, JsonSchema)]
 pub struct SyncStatusReport {
diff --git a/src/daemon/mod.rs b/src/daemon/mod.rs
index 258b5b54e302..bafb12a755b5 100644
--- a/src/daemon/mod.rs
+++ b/src/daemon/mod.rs
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ pub mod main;
 use crate::blocks::Tipset;
 use crate::chain::HeadChange;
 use crate::chain::index::ResolveNullTipset;
-use crate::chain_sync::ChainFollower;
 use crate::chain_sync::network_context::SyncNetworkContext;
+use crate::chain_sync::{ChainFollower, SyncStatus};
 use crate::cli_shared::snapshot;
 use crate::cli_shared::{
     chain_path,
@@ -561,8 +561,9 @@ pub(super) async fn start(
             _ = snap_gc_reboot_rx.recv_async() => {
                 snap_gc.cleanup_before_reboot().await;
             }
-            result = start_services(start_time, &opts, config.clone(), shutdown_send.clone(), |ctx| {
+            result = start_services(start_time, &opts, config.clone(), shutdown_send.clone(), |ctx, sync_status| {
                 snap_gc.set_db(ctx.db.clone());
+                snap_gc.set_sync_status(sync_status);
                 snap_gc.set_car_db_head_epoch(ctx.db.heaviest_tipset().map(|ts|ts.epoch()).unwrap_or_default());
             }) => {
                 break result
@@ -576,7 +577,7 @@ pub(super) async fn start_services(
     opts: &CliOpts,
     mut config: Config,
     shutdown_send: mpsc::Sender<()>,
-    on_app_context_and_db_initialized: impl Fn(&AppContext),
+    on_app_context_and_db_initialized: impl FnOnce(&AppContext, SyncStatus),
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     // Cleanup the collector prometheus metrics registry on start
     crate::metrics::reset_collector_registry();
@@ -608,7 +609,7 @@ pub(super) async fn start_services(
         services.shutdown().await;
         return Ok(());
     }
-    on_app_context_and_db_initialized(&ctx);
+    on_app_context_and_db_initialized(&ctx, chain_follower.sync_status.clone());
     warmup_in_background(&ctx);
     ctx.state_manager.populate_cache();
     maybe_start_metrics_service(&mut services, &config, &ctx).await?;
diff --git a/src/db/gc/snapshot.rs b/src/db/gc/snapshot.rs
index 65338bdab35d..0f8102fb05fc 100644
--- a/src/db/gc/snapshot.rs
+++ b/src/db/gc/snapshot.rs
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ pub struct SnapshotGarbageCollector<DB> {
     running: AtomicBool,
     blessed_lite_snapshot: RwLock<Option<PathBuf>>,
     db: RwLock<Option<Arc<DB>>>,
+    sync_status: RwLock<Option<crate::chain_sync::SyncStatus>>,
     // On mainnet, it takes ~50MiB-200MiB RAM, depending on the time cost of snapshot export
     memory_db: RwLock<Option<HashMap<Cid, Vec<u8>>>>,
     memory_db_head_key: RwLock<Option<TipsetKey>>,
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ where
                 running: AtomicBool::new(false),
                 blessed_lite_snapshot: RwLock::new(None),
                 db: RwLock::new(None),
+                sync_status: RwLock::new(None),
                 memory_db: RwLock::new(None),
                 memory_db_head_key: RwLock::new(None),
                 exported_head_key: RwLock::new(None),
@@ -132,6 +134,10 @@ where
         *self.car_db_head_epoch.write() = Some(epoch);
     }
 
+    pub fn set_sync_status(&self, sync_status: crate::chain_sync::SyncStatus) {
+        *self.sync_status.write() = Some(sync_status)
+    }
+
     pub async fn event_loop(&self) {
         while self.trigger_rx.recv_async().await.is_ok() {
             if self.running.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
@@ -139,6 +145,7 @@ where
             } else {
                 self.running.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
                 if let Err(e) = self.export_snapshot().await {
+                    self.running.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
                     tracing::warn!("{e}");
                 }
             }
@@ -170,18 +177,22 @@ where
         );
         loop {
             if !self.running.load(Ordering::Relaxed)
-                && let Some(db) = &*self.db.read()
                 && let Some(car_db_head_epoch) = *self.car_db_head_epoch.read()
-                && let Ok(head_key) = HeaviestTipsetKeyProvider::heaviest_tipset_key(db)
-                && let Ok(head) = Tipset::load_required(db, &head_key)
+                && let Some(sync_status) = &*self.sync_status.read()
             {
-                let head_epoch = head.epoch();
-                if head_epoch - car_db_head_epoch >= snap_gc_interval_epochs
+                let sync_status = &*sync_status.read();
+                let network_head_epoch = sync_status.network_head_epoch;
+                let head_epoch = sync_status.current_head_epoch;
+                if head_epoch > 0 // sync_status has been initialized
+                    && head_epoch <= network_head_epoch // head epoch is within a sane range
+                    && sync_status.is_synced() // chain is in sync
+                    && sync_status.active_forks.is_empty() // no active fork
+                    && head_epoch - car_db_head_epoch >= snap_gc_interval_epochs // the gap between chain head and car_db head is above threshold
                     && self.trigger_tx.try_send(()).is_ok()
                 {
-                    tracing::info!(%car_db_head_epoch, %head_epoch, %snap_gc_interval_epochs, "Snap GC scheduled");
+                    tracing::info!(%car_db_head_epoch, %head_epoch, %network_head_epoch, %snap_gc_interval_epochs, "Snap GC scheduled");
                 } else {
-                    tracing::trace!(%car_db_head_epoch, %head_epoch, %snap_gc_interval_epochs, "Snap GC not scheduled");
+                    tracing::debug!(%car_db_head_epoch, %head_epoch, %network_head_epoch, %snap_gc_interval_epochs, "Snap GC not scheduled");
                 }
             }
             tokio::time::sleep(snap_gc_check_interval).await;
@@ -219,6 +230,7 @@ where
             }
             map
         });
+        let start = Instant::now();
         let (head_ts, _) = crate::chain::export_from_head::<Sha256>(
             &db,
             self.recent_state_roots,
@@ -235,7 +247,11 @@ where
             head_ts.epoch()
         ));
         temp_path.persist(&target_path)?;
-        tracing::info!("exported lite snapshot at {}", target_path.display());
+        tracing::info!(
+            "exported lite snapshot at {}, took {}",
+            target_path.display(),
+            humantime::format_duration(start.elapsed())
+        );
         *self.blessed_lite_snapshot.write() = Some(target_path);
         *self.exported_head_key.write() = Some(head_ts.key().clone());
 
diff --git a/src/health/mod.rs b/src/health/mod.rs
index d0dcad924508..e1decd8c3678 100644
--- a/src/health/mod.rs
+++ b/src/health/mod.rs
@@ -7,10 +7,8 @@ use axum::{
     response::{IntoResponse, Response},
     routing::get,
 };
-use parking_lot::RwLock;
 
-use crate::chain_sync::SyncStatusReport;
-use crate::{Config, libp2p::PeerManager, networks::ChainConfig};
+use crate::{Config, chain_sync::SyncStatus, libp2p::PeerManager, networks::ChainConfig};
 
 mod endpoints;
 
@@ -22,7 +20,7 @@ pub(crate) struct ForestState {
     pub config: Config,
     pub chain_config: Arc<ChainConfig>,
     pub genesis_timestamp: u64,
-    pub sync_status: Arc<RwLock<SyncStatusReport>>,
+    pub sync_status: SyncStatus,
     pub peer_manager: Arc<PeerManager>,
 }
 
@@ -60,11 +58,11 @@ impl IntoResponse for AppError {
 mod test {
     use std::net::{IpAddr, Ipv4Addr, SocketAddr};
 
+    use super::*;
     use crate::Client;
+    use crate::chain_sync::{NodeSyncStatus, SyncStatusReport};
     use crate::cli_shared::cli::ChainIndexerConfig;
-
-    use super::*;
-    use crate::chain_sync::NodeSyncStatus;
+    use parking_lot::RwLock;
     use reqwest::StatusCode;
 
     #[tokio::test]
diff --git a/src/rpc/mod.rs b/src/rpc/mod.rs
index defd30c9ff51..460a0121b252 100644
--- a/src/rpc/mod.rs
+++ b/src/rpc/mod.rs
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ pub struct RPCState<DB> {
     pub mpool: Arc<crate::message_pool::MessagePool<crate::message_pool::MpoolRpcProvider<DB>>>,
     pub bad_blocks: Option<Arc<crate::chain_sync::BadBlockCache>>,
     pub msgs_in_tipset: Arc<crate::chain::store::MsgsInTipsetCache>,
-    pub sync_status: Arc<parking_lot::RwLock<crate::chain_sync::SyncStatusReport>>,
+    pub sync_status: crate::chain_sync::SyncStatus,
     pub eth_event_handler: Arc<EthEventHandler>,
     pub sync_network_context: SyncNetworkContext<DB>,
     pub tipset_send: flume::Sender<Arc<FullTipset>>,