diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index a81e6e9a..4deaf2de 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ ver. 1.0.1-dev-1 (20??/??/??) - development nightly edition
 ### Fixes
 * [stability] prevent race condition - no ban if filter (backend) is continuously busy if
   too many messages will be found in log, e. g. initial scan of large log-file or journal (gh-2660)
+* pyinotify-backend sporadically avoided initial scanning of log-file by start
 * python 3.9 compatibility (and Travis CI support)
 * restoring a large number (500+ depending on files ulimit) of current bans when using PyPy fixed
 * manual ban is written to database, so can be restored by restart (gh-2647)
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/actions.py b/fail2ban/server/actions.py
index 7547ba4b..40682bf3 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/actions.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/actions.py
@@ -329,8 +329,10 @@ class Actions(JailThread, Mapping):
 				logSys.debug("Actions: leave idle mode")
 				continue
 			# wait for ban (stop if gets inactive):
-			bancnt = Utils.wait_for(lambda: not self.active or self.__checkBan(), self.sleeptime)
-			cnt += bancnt
+			bancnt = 0
+			if Utils.wait_for(lambda: not self.active or self._jail.hasFailTickets, self.sleeptime):
+				bancnt = self.__checkBan()
+				cnt += bancnt
 			# unban if nothing is banned not later than banned tickets >= banPrecedence
 			if not bancnt or cnt >= self.banPrecedence:
 				if self.active:
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/filter.py b/fail2ban/server/filter.py
index 4e65dd2c..8cf2be5b 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/filter.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/filter.py
@@ -458,10 +458,10 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 		logSys.info(
 			"[%s] Attempt %s - %s", self.jailName, ip, datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(unixTime).strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
 		)
-		self.failManager.addFailure(ticket, len(matches) or 1)
-
+		attempts = self.failManager.addFailure(ticket, len(matches) or 1)
 		# Perform the ban if this attempt is resulted to:
-		self.performBan(ip)
+		if attempts >= self.failManager.getMaxRetry():
+			self.performBan(ip)
 
 		return 1
 
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/filterpyinotify.py b/fail2ban/server/filterpyinotify.py
index 185305ca..6d0172da 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/filterpyinotify.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/filterpyinotify.py
@@ -271,7 +271,13 @@ class FilterPyinotify(FileFilter):
 
 	def _addLogPath(self, path):
 		self._addFileWatcher(path)
-		self._process_file(path)
+		# initial scan:
+		if self.active:
+			# we can execute it right now:
+			self._process_file(path)
+		else:
+			# retard until filter gets started:
+			self._addPending(path, ('INITIAL', path))
 
     ##
 	# Delete a log path
diff --git a/fail2ban/server/jail.py b/fail2ban/server/jail.py
index ce9968a8..673b6454 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/jail.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/jail.py
@@ -196,6 +196,12 @@ class Jail(object):
 			("Actions", self.actions.status(flavor=flavor)),
 			]
 
+	@property
+	def hasFailTickets(self):
+		"""Retrieve whether queue has tickets to ban.
+		"""
+		return not self.__queue.empty()
+
 	def putFailTicket(self, ticket):
 		"""Add a fail ticket to the jail.
 
diff --git a/fail2ban/tests/dummyjail.py b/fail2ban/tests/dummyjail.py
index 9bd1bcaf..fdeced8f 100644
--- a/fail2ban/tests/dummyjail.py
+++ b/fail2ban/tests/dummyjail.py
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ class DummyJail(Jail):
 		with self.lock:
 			return bool(self.queue)
 
+	@property
+	def hasFailTickets(self):
+		return bool(self.queue)
+
 	def putFailTicket(self, ticket):
 		with self.lock:
 			self.queue.append(ticket)