diff --git a/builtin/logical/database/rotation.go b/builtin/logical/database/rotation.go
index f69430ab8..0aee4756b 100644
--- a/builtin/logical/database/rotation.go
+++ b/builtin/logical/database/rotation.go
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ func (b *databaseBackend) initQueue(ctx context.Context, conf *logical.BackendCo
 			}
 
 			walID, err := framework.PutWAL(ctx, conf.StorageView, staticWALKey, &setCredentialsWAL{RoleName: "vault-readonlytest"})
-			if walID != "" {
+			if walID != "" && err == nil {
 				defer framework.DeleteWAL(ctx, conf.StorageView, walID)
 			}
 			switch {
diff --git a/changelog/16686.txt b/changelog/16686.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..293eb7c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/16686.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+secrets/database: Fix a bug where the secret engine would queue up a lot of WAL deletes during startup.
+```