diff --git a/transfer_queue/interface.py b/transfer_queue/interface.py
index 8e4f8c34..d415a2fb 100644
--- a/transfer_queue/interface.py
+++ b/transfer_queue/interface.py
@@ -47,7 +47,12 @@ def _maybe_create_transferqueue_client(
     global _TRANSFER_QUEUE_CLIENT
     if _TRANSFER_QUEUE_CLIENT is None:
         if conf is None:
-            raise ValueError("Missing config for initializing TransferQueueClient!")
+            _init_from_existing()
+            assert _TRANSFER_QUEUE_CLIENT is not None, (
+                "TransferQueueController has not been initialized yet. Please call init() first."
+            )
+            return _TRANSFER_QUEUE_CLIENT
+
         pid = os.getpid()
         _TRANSFER_QUEUE_CLIENT = TransferQueueClient(
             client_id=f"TransferQueueClient_{pid}", controller_info=conf.controller.zmq_info
@@ -88,23 +93,34 @@ def _maybe_create_transferqueue_storage(conf: DictConfig) -> DictConfig:
     return conf
 
 
-def _init_from_existing() -> None:
-    """Initialize the TransferQueueClient from existing controller."""
+def _init_from_existing() -> bool:
+    """Initialize the TransferQueueClient from existing controller.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if successfully initialized from existing controller, False otherwise.
+    """
+
+    try:
+        controller = ray.get_actor("TransferQueueController")
+    except ValueError:
+        logger.info("Called _init_from_existing() but TransferQueueController has not been initialized yet.")
+        return False
 
-    controller = ray.get_actor("TransferQueueController")
     logger.info("Found existing TransferQueueController instance. Connecting...")
 
     conf = None
     while conf is None:
-        remote_conf = ray.get(controller.get_config.remote())
-        if remote_conf is not None:
-            _maybe_create_transferqueue_client(remote_conf)
+        conf = ray.get(controller.get_config.remote())
+        if conf is not None:
+            _maybe_create_transferqueue_client(conf)
             logger.info("TransferQueueClient initialized.")
-            return
+            return True
 
         logger.debug("Waiting for controller to initialize... Retrying in 1s")
         time.sleep(1)
 
+    return False
+
 
 # ==================== Initialization API ====================
 def init(conf: Optional[DictConfig] = None) -> None:
@@ -138,14 +154,11 @@ def init(conf: Optional[DictConfig] = None) -> None:
         >>> metadata = tq.get_meta(...)
         >>> data = tq.get_data(metadata)
     """
-    try:
-        _init_from_existing()
-    except ValueError:
-        logger.info("No TransferQueueController found. Starting first-time initialization...")
-    else:
+    if _init_from_existing():
         return
 
     # First-time initialize TransferQueue
+    logger.info("No TransferQueueController found. Starting first-time initialization...")
 
     # create config
     final_conf = OmegaConf.create({}, flags={"allow_objects": True})