diff --git a/minicluster/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/miniclusterImpl/MiniAccumuloClusterImpl.java b/minicluster/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/miniclusterImpl/MiniAccumuloClusterImpl.java
index 4bce23d5e9b..fc9d86ec63f 100644
--- a/minicluster/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/miniclusterImpl/MiniAccumuloClusterImpl.java
+++ b/minicluster/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/miniclusterImpl/MiniAccumuloClusterImpl.java
@@ -614,18 +614,10 @@ public synchronized void start() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
 
     control.start(ServerType.TABLET_SERVER);
 
-    int ret = 0;
-    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
-      ret = exec(Main.class, SetGoalState.class.getName(), ManagerGoalState.NORMAL.toString())
-          .getProcess().waitFor();
-      if (ret == 0) {
-        break;
-      }
-      sleepUninterruptibly(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
-    }
-    if (ret != 0) {
-      throw new IllegalStateException("Could not set manager goal state, process returned " + ret
-          + ". Check the logs in " + config.getLogDir() + " for errors.");
+    try {
+      SetGoalState.setGoalState(getServerContext(), ManagerGoalState.NORMAL);
+    } catch (KeeperException e) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException("Could not set manager goal state", e);
     }
 
     control.start(ServerType.MANAGER);
diff --git a/server/manager/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/manager/state/SetGoalState.java b/server/manager/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/manager/state/SetGoalState.java
index ad7cf9abd57..a044f3f950c 100644
--- a/server/manager/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/manager/state/SetGoalState.java
+++ b/server/manager/src/main/java/org/apache/accumulo/manager/state/SetGoalState.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import org.apache.accumulo.manager.upgrade.RenameMasterDirInZK;
 import org.apache.accumulo.server.ServerContext;
 import org.apache.accumulo.server.security.SecurityUtil;
+import org.apache.zookeeper.KeeperException;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 
@@ -38,13 +39,15 @@ public class SetGoalState {
    * Utility program that will change the goal state for the manager from the command line.
    */
   public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+    final ManagerGoalState targetGoalState;
     try {
       Preconditions.checkArgument(args.length == 1);
-      ManagerGoalState.valueOf(args[0]);
+      targetGoalState = ManagerGoalState.valueOf(args[0]);
     } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
       System.err.println(
           "Usage: accumulo " + SetGoalState.class.getName() + " [NORMAL|SAFE_MODE|CLEAN_STOP]");
       System.exit(-1);
+      return;
     }
 
     try {
@@ -53,12 +56,20 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
       var context = new ServerContext(siteConfig);
       RenameMasterDirInZK.renameMasterDirInZK(context);
       context.waitForZookeeperAndHdfs();
-      context.getZooReaderWriter().putPersistentData(
-          context.getZooKeeperRoot() + Constants.ZMANAGER_GOAL_STATE, args[0].getBytes(UTF_8),
-          NodeExistsPolicy.OVERWRITE);
+      setGoalState(context, targetGoalState);
     } finally {
       SingletonManager.setMode(Mode.CLOSED);
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Writes the manager goal state to ZooKeeper, overwriting the current value.
+   */
+  public static void setGoalState(ServerContext context, ManagerGoalState targetGoalState)
+      throws KeeperException, InterruptedException {
+    context.getZooReaderWriter().putPersistentData(
+        context.getZooKeeperRoot() + Constants.ZMANAGER_GOAL_STATE,
+        targetGoalState.name().getBytes(UTF_8), NodeExistsPolicy.OVERWRITE);
+  }
+
 }