diff --git a/common/restart_waiter.cpp b/common/restart_waiter.cpp
index 2fea3b5e0..77436cb75 100644
--- a/common/restart_waiter.cpp
+++ b/common/restart_waiter.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ bool RestartWaiter::waitAdvancedBootDone(
     return isAdvancedBootInProgress(stateDb) ? doWait(stateDb, maxWaitSec) : true;
 }
 
+bool RestartWaiter::waitWarmBootStarted(
+    unsigned int maxWaitSec,
+    unsigned int dbTimeout,
+    bool isTcpConn)
+{
+    DBConnector stateDb(STATE_DB_NAME, dbTimeout, isTcpConn);
+    // bootEnabledTarget = "true" means wait for RESTART_ENABLE_FIELD to be set to "true",
+    // which indicates warm reboot has started.
+    return doWait(stateDb, maxWaitSec, "true");
+}
+
 bool RestartWaiter::waitWarmBootDone(
     unsigned int maxWaitSec,
     unsigned int dbTimeout,
@@ -54,12 +65,15 @@ bool RestartWaiter::waitFastBootDone(
 }
 
 bool RestartWaiter::doWait(DBConnector &stateDb,
-                           unsigned int maxWaitSec)
+                           unsigned int maxWaitSec,
+                           const std::string &bootEnabledTarget)
 {
-    RedisTableWaiter::ConditionFunc condFunc = [](const std::string &value) -> bool {
+    RedisTableWaiter::ConditionFunc condFunc = [&bootEnabledTarget](const std::string &value) -> bool {
         std::string copy = value;
         boost::to_lower(copy);
-        return copy == "false";
+        std::string target = bootEnabledTarget;
+        boost::to_lower(target); 
+        return copy == target;
     };
     return RedisTableWaiter::waitUntilFieldSet(stateDb,
                                                STATE_WARM_RESTART_ENABLE_TABLE_NAME,
diff --git a/common/restart_waiter.h b/common/restart_waiter.h
index 79268bfbc..12e94e7d4 100644
--- a/common/restart_waiter.h
+++ b/common/restart_waiter.h
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ class RestartWaiter
                                      unsigned int dbTimeout = 0,
                                      bool isTcpConn = false);
 
+    static bool waitWarmBootStarted(unsigned int maxWaitSec = 86400,
+                                    unsigned int dbTimeout = 0,
+                                    bool isTcpConn = false);
+
     static bool waitWarmBootDone(unsigned int maxWaitSec = 180,
                                     unsigned int dbTimeout = 0,
                                     bool isTcpConn = false);
@@ -29,7 +33,8 @@ class RestartWaiter
 
 private:
     static bool doWait(swss::DBConnector &stateDb,
-                       unsigned int maxWaitSec);
+                       unsigned int maxWaitSec,
+                       const std::string &bootEnabledTarget = "false");
 };
 
 }
diff --git a/tests/restart_waiter_ut.cpp b/tests/restart_waiter_ut.cpp
index 111ecb5b7..14db665a4 100644
--- a/tests/restart_waiter_ut.cpp
+++ b/tests/restart_waiter_ut.cpp
@@ -67,6 +67,14 @@ TEST(RestartWaiter, successFastReboot)
     t.join();
 }
 
+TEST(RestartWaiter, successWarmRebootStarted)
+{
+    set_reboot_status("false");
+    thread t(set_reboot_status, "true", 3);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(RestartWaiter::waitWarmBootStarted());
+    t.join();
+}
+
 TEST(RestartWaiter, timeout)
 {
     set_reboot_status("true");
@@ -77,6 +85,7 @@ TEST(RestartWaiter, timeout)
     EXPECT_FALSE(RestartWaiter::waitFastBootDone(1));
 
     set_reboot_status("false");
+    EXPECT_FALSE(RestartWaiter::waitWarmBootStarted(1));
 }
 
 TEST(RestartWaiter, successNoDelay)
@@ -87,6 +96,9 @@ TEST(RestartWaiter, successNoDelay)
 
     FastBootHelper helper;
     EXPECT_TRUE(RestartWaiter::waitFastBootDone());
+
+    set_reboot_status("true");
+    EXPECT_TRUE(RestartWaiter::waitWarmBootStarted());
 }
 
 TEST(RestartWaiter, successNoKey)
@@ -101,6 +113,14 @@ TEST(RestartWaiter, successNoKey)
     EXPECT_TRUE(RestartWaiter::waitFastBootDone());
 }
 
+TEST(RestartWaiter, waitWarmBootStartedNoKeyTimesOut)
+{
+    DBConnector db("STATE_DB", 0);
+    string key = string(STATE_WARM_RESTART_ENABLE_TABLE_NAME) + string("|system");
+    db.del({key});
+    EXPECT_FALSE(RestartWaiter::waitWarmBootStarted(1));
+}
+
 TEST(RestartWaiter, waitWarmButFastInProgress)
 {
     FastBootHelper helper;