diff --git a/include/sdbusplus/async/scope.hpp b/include/sdbusplus/async/scope.hpp
index afd4fb0..e220cfb 100644
--- a/include/sdbusplus/async/scope.hpp
+++ b/include/sdbusplus/async/scope.hpp
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
     void ended_task(std::exception_ptr&&) noexcept;
 
     std::mutex lock{};
+    bool started = false;
     size_t pending_count = 0;
     std::exception_ptr pending_exception = {};
     scope_ns::scope_completion* pending = nullptr;
diff --git a/src/async/scope.cpp b/src/async/scope.cpp
index 353c52b..a990e41 100644
--- a/src/async/scope.cpp
+++ b/src/async/scope.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 void scope::started_task() noexcept
 {
     std::lock_guard l{lock};
+    started = true;
     ++pending_count;
 }
 
@@ -74,7 +75,11 @@
 
     {
         std::lock_guard l{s.lock};
-        if (s.pending_count == 0)
+        if (!s.started)
+        {
+            done = false;
+        }
+        else if (s.pending_count == 0)
         {
             done = true;
         }