diff --git a/Assets/Mirror/Runtime/NetworkManager.cs b/Assets/Mirror/Runtime/NetworkManager.cs
index 324a6f850..845e53c7f 100644
--- a/Assets/Mirror/Runtime/NetworkManager.cs
+++ b/Assets/Mirror/Runtime/NetworkManager.cs
@@ -273,15 +273,10 @@ bool IsServerOnlineSceneChangeNeeded()
             return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(onlineScene) && onlineScene != loadedSceneName && onlineScene != offlineScene;
         }
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// This starts a new server.
-        /// <para>This uses the networkPort property as the listen port.</para>
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <returns></returns>
-        public void StartServer()
+        // full server setup code, without spawning objects yet
+        void SetupServer()
         {
-            if (LogFilter.Debug) Debug.Log("NetworkManager StartServer");
-
+            if (LogFilter.Debug) Debug.Log("NetworkManager SetupServer");
             InitializeSingleton();
 
             if (runInBackground)
@@ -312,6 +307,16 @@ public void StartServer()
             RegisterServerMessages();
 
             isNetworkActive = true;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// This starts a new server.
+        /// <para>This uses the networkPort property as the listen port.</para>
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        public void StartServer()
+        {
+            SetupServer();
 
             // scene change needed? then change scene and spawn afterwards.
             if (IsServerOnlineSceneChangeNeeded())
@@ -394,13 +399,15 @@ public void StartClient(Uri uri)
         /// </summary>
         public virtual void StartHost()
         {
+            // setup server first
             OnStartHost();
+            SetupServer();
 
-            // SetupLocalConnection needs to be called BEFORE StartServer:
+            // SetupLocalConnection needs to be called BEFORE SpawnObjects:
             // https://github.com/vis2k/Mirror/pull/1249/
             // -> this sets NetworkServer.localConnection.
-            // -> localConnection needs to be set before StartServer because:
-            //    -> StartServer calls OnStartServer
+            // -> localConnection needs to be set before SpawnObjects because:
+            //    -> SpawnObjects calls OnStartServer in all NetworkBehaviours
             //       -> OnStartServer might spawn an object and set [SyncVar(hook="OnColorChanged")] object.color = green;
             //          -> this calls SyncVar.set (generated by Weaver), which has
             //             a custom case for host mode (because host mode doesn't
@@ -421,7 +428,20 @@ public virtual void StartHost()
             //          -> localClientActive needs to be true, otherwise the hook
             //             isn't called in host mode!
             NetworkClient.SetupLocalConnection();
-            StartServer();
+
+            // scene change needed? then change scene and spawn afterwards.
+            if (IsServerOnlineSceneChangeNeeded())
+            {
+                ServerChangeScene(onlineScene);
+            }
+            // otherwise spawn directly
+            else
+            {
+                NetworkServer.SpawnObjects();
+            }
+
+            // connect client and call OnStartClient AFTER any possible server
+            // scene changes.
             ConnectLocalClient();
             OnStartClient();
         }