diff --git a/src/rc/rc.c b/src/rc/rc.c
index f284c2e3..662062ef 100644
--- a/src/rc/rc.c
+++ b/src/rc/rc.c
@@ -667,6 +667,7 @@ do_start_services(bool parallel)
 			interactive = want_interactive();
 
 		if (interactive) {
+			parallel = false;
 	interactive_retry:
 			printf("\n");
 			einfo("About to start the service %s",