diff --git a/internal/statesync/reactor.go b/internal/statesync/reactor.go
index 8f39f54bc..b9113cc21 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/reactor.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/reactor.go
@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ const (
 	maxLightBlockRequestRetries = 20
 )
 
-func GetChannelDescriptors() []*p2p.ChannelDescriptor {
-	return []*p2p.ChannelDescriptor{
-		{
+func getChannelDescriptors() map[p2p.ChannelID]*p2p.ChannelDescriptor {
+	return map[p2p.ChannelID]*p2p.ChannelDescriptor{
+		SnapshotChannel: {
 
 			ID:                  SnapshotChannel,
 			MessageType:         new(ssproto.Message),
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func GetChannelDescriptors() []*p2p.ChannelDescriptor {
 			RecvMessageCapacity: snapshotMsgSize,
 			RecvBufferCapacity:  128,
 		},
-		{
+		ChunkChannel: {
 			ID:                  ChunkChannel,
 			Priority:            3,
 			MessageType:         new(ssproto.Message),
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func GetChannelDescriptors() []*p2p.ChannelDescriptor {
 			RecvMessageCapacity: chunkMsgSize,
 			RecvBufferCapacity:  128,
 		},
-		{
+		LightBlockChannel: {
 			ID:                  LightBlockChannel,
 			MessageType:         new(ssproto.Message),
 			Priority:            5,
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func GetChannelDescriptors() []*p2p.ChannelDescriptor {
 			RecvMessageCapacity: lightBlockMsgSize,
 			RecvBufferCapacity:  128,
 		},
-		{
+		ParamsChannel: {
 			ID:                  ParamsChannel,
 			MessageType:         new(ssproto.Message),
 			Priority:            2,
@@ -166,19 +166,40 @@ type Reactor struct {
 // and querying, references to p2p Channels and a channel to listen for peer
 // updates on. Note, the reactor will close all p2p Channels when stopping.
 func NewReactor(
+	ctx context.Context,
 	chainID string,
 	initialHeight int64,
 	cfg config.StateSyncConfig,
 	logger log.Logger,
 	conn proxy.AppConnSnapshot,
 	connQuery proxy.AppConnQuery,
-	snapshotCh, chunkCh, blockCh, paramsCh *p2p.Channel,
+	channelCreator p2p.ChannelCreator,
 	peerUpdates *p2p.PeerUpdates,
 	stateStore sm.Store,
 	blockStore *store.BlockStore,
 	tempDir string,
 	ssMetrics *Metrics,
-) *Reactor {
+) (*Reactor, error) {
+
+	chDesc := getChannelDescriptors()
+
+	snapshotCh, err := channelCreator(ctx, chDesc[SnapshotChannel])
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	chunkCh, err := channelCreator(ctx, chDesc[ChunkChannel])
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	blockCh, err := channelCreator(ctx, chDesc[LightBlockChannel])
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	paramsCh, err := channelCreator(ctx, chDesc[ParamsChannel])
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	r := &Reactor{
 		logger:        logger,
 		chainID:       chainID,
@@ -201,7 +222,7 @@ func NewReactor(
 	}
 
 	r.BaseService = *service.NewBaseService(logger, "StateSync", r)
-	return r
+	return r, nil
 }
 
 // OnStart starts separate go routines for each p2p Channel and listens for
diff --git a/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go b/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go
index 127814493..a53cd3a68 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go
@@ -146,23 +146,38 @@ func setup(
 
 	cfg := config.DefaultStateSyncConfig()
 
-	rts.reactor = NewReactor(
+	chCreator := func(ctx context.Context, desc *p2p.ChannelDescriptor) (*p2p.Channel, error) {
+		switch desc.ID {
+		case SnapshotChannel:
+			return rts.snapshotChannel, nil
+		case ChunkChannel:
+			return rts.chunkChannel, nil
+		case LightBlockChannel:
+			return rts.blockChannel, nil
+		case ParamsChannel:
+			return rts.paramsChannel, nil
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid channel; %v", desc.ID)
+		}
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	rts.reactor, err = NewReactor(
+		ctx,
 		factory.DefaultTestChainID,
 		1,
 		*cfg,
 		log.TestingLogger(),
 		conn,
 		connQuery,
-		rts.snapshotChannel,
-		rts.chunkChannel,
-		rts.blockChannel,
-		rts.paramsChannel,
+		chCreator,
 		rts.peerUpdates,
 		rts.stateStore,
 		rts.blockStore,
 		"",
 		m,
 	)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	rts.syncer = newSyncer(
 		*cfg,
diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index 9874f6dab..704bf7faa 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -349,35 +349,24 @@ func makeNode(
 	// FIXME The way we do phased startups (e.g. replay -> block sync -> consensus) is very messy,
 	// we should clean this whole thing up. See:
 	// https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/4644
-	ssChDesc := statesync.GetChannelDescriptors()
-	channels := make(map[p2p.ChannelID]*p2p.Channel, len(ssChDesc))
-	for idx := range ssChDesc {
-		chd := ssChDesc[idx]
-		ch, err := router.OpenChannel(ctx, chd)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-
-		channels[ch.ID] = ch
-	}
-
-	stateSyncReactor := statesync.NewReactor(
+	stateSyncReactor, err := statesync.NewReactor(
+		ctx,
 		genDoc.ChainID,
 		genDoc.InitialHeight,
 		*cfg.StateSync,
 		logger.With("module", "statesync"),
 		proxyApp.Snapshot(),
 		proxyApp.Query(),
-		channels[statesync.SnapshotChannel],
-		channels[statesync.ChunkChannel],
-		channels[statesync.LightBlockChannel],
-		channels[statesync.ParamsChannel],
+		router.OpenChannel,
 		peerManager.Subscribe(ctx),
 		stateStore,
 		blockStore,
 		cfg.StateSync.TempDir,
 		nodeMetrics.statesync,
 	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, combineCloseError(err, makeCloser(closers))
+	}
 
 	var pexReactor service.Service
 	if cfg.P2P.PexReactor {