diff --git a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/typed/persistence-testing.md b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/typed/persistence-testing.md
index 8261e92d3f..f7aa50ee5a 100644
--- a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/typed/persistence-testing.md
+++ b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/typed/persistence-testing.md
@@ -188,4 +188,25 @@ For tests that involve more than one Cluster node you have to use another journa
 While it's possible to use the @ref:[Persistence Plugin Proxy](../persistence-plugins.md#persistence-plugin-proxy)
 it's often better and more realistic to use a real database.
 
-See [akka-samples issue #128](https://github.com/akka/akka-samples/issues/128).    
+See [akka-samples issue #128](https://github.com/akka/akka-samples/issues/128).
+
+### Plugin initialization
+
+Some Persistence plugins create tables automatically, but has the limitation that it can't be done concurrently
+from several ActorSystems. That can be a problem if the test creates a Cluster and all nodes tries to initialize
+the plugins at the same time. To coordinate initialization you can use the `PersistenceInit` utility.
+
+`PersistenceInit` is part of `akka-persistence-testkit` and you need to add the dependency to your project:
+
+@@dependency[sbt,Maven,Gradle] {
+  group="com.typesafe.akka"
+  artifact="akka-persistence-testkit_$scala.binary_version$"
+  version="$akka.version$"
+}
+
+Scala
+:  @@snip [PersistenceInitSpec.scala](/akka-docs/src/test/scala/docs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitSpec.scala) { #imports #init }
+
+Java
+:  @@snip [PersistenceInitTest.java](/akka-docs/src/test/java/jdocs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitTest.java) { #imports #init }
+  
diff --git a/akka-docs/src/test/java/jdocs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitTest.java b/akka-docs/src/test/java/jdocs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..710cb0a35e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-docs/src/test/java/jdocs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Lightbend Inc. <https://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package jdocs.persistence.testkit;
+
+import akka.actor.testkit.typed.javadsl.TestKitJunitResource;
+
+import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory;
+import jdocs.AbstractJavaTest;
+import org.junit.ClassRule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.UUID;
+
+// #imports
+import akka.persistence.testkit.javadsl.PersistenceInit;
+import akka.Done;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletionStage;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+// #imports
+
+public class PersistenceInitTest extends AbstractJavaTest {
+  @ClassRule
+  public static final TestKitJunitResource testKit =
+      new TestKitJunitResource(
+          ConfigFactory.parseString(
+                  "akka.persistence.journal.plugin = \"akka.persistence.journal.inmem\" \n"
+                      + "akka.persistence.journal.inmem.test-serialization = on \n"
+                      + "akka.persistence.snapshot-store.plugin = \"akka.persistence.snapshot-store.local\" \n"
+                      + "akka.persistence.snapshot-store.local.dir = \"target/snapshot-"
+                      + UUID.randomUUID().toString()
+                      + "\" \n")
+              .withFallback(ConfigFactory.defaultApplication()));
+
+  @Test
+  public void testInit() throws Exception {
+    // #init
+    Duration timeout = Duration.ofSeconds(5);
+    CompletionStage<Done> done =
+        PersistenceInit.initializeDefaultPlugins(testKit.system(), timeout);
+    done.toCompletableFuture().get(timeout.getSeconds(), TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+    // #init
+  }
+}
diff --git a/akka-docs/src/test/scala/docs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitSpec.scala b/akka-docs/src/test/scala/docs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..24227b270e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-docs/src/test/scala/docs/persistence/testkit/PersistenceInitSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Lightbend Inc. <https://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package docs.persistence.testkit
+
+import akka.Done
+import akka.actor.testkit.typed.scaladsl.ScalaTestWithActorTestKit
+import org.scalatest.wordspec.AnyWordSpecLike
+
+//#imports
+import akka.persistence.testkit.scaladsl.PersistenceInit
+
+import scala.concurrent.Await
+import scala.concurrent.Future
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+
+//#imports
+
+class PersistenceInitSpec
+    extends ScalaTestWithActorTestKit(
+      """
+  akka.persistence.journal.plugin = "akka.persistence.journal.inmem"
+  akka.persistence.snapshot-store.plugin = "akka.persistence.snapshot-store.local"
+  akka.persistence.snapshot-store.local.dir = "target/snapshot-${UUID.randomUUID().toString}"
+  """)
+    with AnyWordSpecLike {
+
+  "PersistenceInit" should {
+    "initialize plugins" in {
+      //#init
+      val timeout = 5.seconds
+      val done: Future[Done] = PersistenceInit.initializeDefaultPlugins(system, timeout)
+      Await.result(done, timeout)
+      //#init
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/internal/PersistenceInitImpl.scala b/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/internal/PersistenceInitImpl.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bde769571d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/internal/PersistenceInitImpl.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Lightbend Inc. <https://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.persistence.testkit.internal
+
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+
+import akka.actor.ActorLogging
+import akka.actor.Props
+import akka.annotation.InternalApi
+import akka.persistence.PersistentActor
+import akka.persistence.RecoveryCompleted
+
+/**
+ * INTERNAL API
+ */
+@InternalApi private[akka] object PersistenceInitImpl {
+
+  def props(journalPluginId: String, snapshotPluginId: String, persistenceId: String): Props = {
+    Props(new PersistenceInitImpl(journalPluginId, snapshotPluginId, persistenceId))
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * INTERNAL API: Initialize a journal and snapshot plugin by starting this `PersistentActor`
+ * and send any message to it. It will reply to the `sender()` with the same message when
+ * recovery has completed.
+ */
+@InternalApi private[akka] class PersistenceInitImpl(
+    override val journalPluginId: String,
+    override val snapshotPluginId: String,
+    override val persistenceId: String)
+    extends PersistentActor
+    with ActorLogging {
+
+  private val startTime = System.nanoTime()
+
+  def receiveRecover: Receive = {
+    case RecoveryCompleted =>
+      log.debug(
+        "Initialization completed for journal [{}] and snapshot [{}] plugins, with persistenceId [{}], in [{} ms]",
+        journalPluginId,
+        snapshotPluginId,
+        persistenceId,
+        TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(System.nanoTime() - startTime))
+    case _ =>
+  }
+
+  def receiveCommand: Receive = {
+    case msg =>
+      // recovery has completed
+      sender() ! msg
+      context.stop(self)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/javadsl/PersistenceInit.scala b/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/javadsl/PersistenceInit.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7f1c62dc7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/javadsl/PersistenceInit.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Lightbend Inc. <https://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.persistence.testkit.javadsl
+
+import java.time.Duration
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletionStage
+
+import scala.compat.java8.FutureConverters._
+
+import akka.Done
+import akka.actor.ClassicActorSystemProvider
+import akka.persistence.testkit.scaladsl
+import akka.util.JavaDurationConverters._
+
+/**
+ * Test utility to initialize persistence plugins. Useful when initialization order or coordination
+ * is needed. For example to avoid creating tables concurrently.
+ */
+object PersistenceInit {
+
+  /**
+   * Initialize the default journal and snapshot plugins.
+   *
+   * @return a `CompletionStage` that is completed when the initialization has completed
+   */
+  def initializeDefaultPlugins(system: ClassicActorSystemProvider, timeout: Duration): CompletionStage[Done] =
+    initializePlugins(system, journalPluginId = "", snapshotPluginId = "", timeout)
+
+  /**
+   * Initialize the given journal and snapshot plugins.
+   *
+   * The `snapshotPluginId` can be empty (`""`) if snapshot plugin isn't used.
+   *
+   * @return a `CompletionStage` that is completed when the initialization has completed
+   */
+  def initializePlugins(
+      system: ClassicActorSystemProvider,
+      journalPluginId: String,
+      snapshotPluginId: String,
+      timeout: Duration): CompletionStage[Done] =
+    scaladsl.PersistenceInit.initializePlugins(system, journalPluginId, snapshotPluginId, timeout.asScala).toJava
+
+}
diff --git a/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/scaladsl/PersistenceInit.scala b/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/scaladsl/PersistenceInit.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e61a5135f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-persistence-testkit/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/testkit/scaladsl/PersistenceInit.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Lightbend Inc. <https://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.persistence.testkit.scaladsl
+
+import java.util.UUID
+
+import scala.concurrent.Future
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
+
+import akka.Done
+import akka.actor.ClassicActorSystemProvider
+import akka.actor.ExtendedActorSystem
+import akka.persistence.testkit.internal.PersistenceInitImpl
+import akka.util.Timeout
+
+/**
+ * Test utility to initialize persistence plugins. Useful when initialization order or coordination
+ * is needed. For example to avoid creating tables concurrently.
+ */
+object PersistenceInit {
+
+  /**
+   * Initialize the default journal and snapshot plugins.
+   *
+   * @return a `Future` that is completed when the initialization has completed
+   */
+  def initializeDefaultPlugins(system: ClassicActorSystemProvider, timeout: FiniteDuration): Future[Done] =
+    initializePlugins(system, journalPluginId = "", snapshotPluginId = "", timeout)
+
+  /**
+   * Initialize the given journal and snapshot plugins.
+   *
+   * The `snapshotPluginId` can be empty (`""`) if snapshot plugin isn't used.
+   *
+   * @return a `Future` that is completed when the initialization has completed
+   */
+  def initializePlugins(
+      system: ClassicActorSystemProvider,
+      journalPluginId: String,
+      snapshotPluginId: String,
+      timeout: FiniteDuration): Future[Done] = {
+    val persistenceId: String = s"persistenceInit-${UUID.randomUUID()}"
+    val extSystem = system.classicSystem.asInstanceOf[ExtendedActorSystem]
+    val ref =
+      extSystem.systemActorOf(
+        PersistenceInitImpl.props(journalPluginId, snapshotPluginId, persistenceId),
+        persistenceId)
+    import akka.pattern.ask
+    import extSystem.dispatcher
+    implicit val askTimeout: Timeout = timeout
+    (ref ? "start").map(_ => Done)
+  }
+}