diff --git a/ksplash/ksplashqml/splashapp.cpp b/ksplash/ksplashqml/splashapp.cpp
--- a/ksplash/ksplashqml/splashapp.cpp
+++ b/ksplash/ksplashqml/splashapp.cpp
@@ -33,10 +33,9 @@
 #define TEST_STEP_INTERVAL 2000
 
 /**
- * There are 7 stages in ksplash
+ * There are 6 used stages in ksplash
  *  - initial
- *  - kded
- *  - confupdate
+ *  - kinit
  *  - ksmserver
  *  - wm
  *  - ready
@@ -104,6 +103,11 @@
 
 void SplashApp::setStage(const QString &stage)
 {
+    //filter out startup events from KDED as they will be removed in a future release
+    if (stage == QLatin1String("kded") || stage == QLatin1String("confupdate")) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     qDebug() << "Loading stage " << stage << m_startTime.msecsTo(QDateTime::currentDateTime());
 
     if (m_stages.contains(stage)) {
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@
 
 void SplashApp::setStage(int stage)
 {
-    if (m_stage == 7) {
+    if (m_stage == 6) {
         QGuiApplication::exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
     }
 
diff --git a/startkde/startkde.cmake b/startkde/startkde.cmake
--- a/startkde/startkde.cmake
+++ b/startkde/startkde.cmake
@@ -351,6 +351,7 @@
 # We set LD_BIND_NOW to increase the efficiency of kdeinit.
 # kdeinit unsets this variable before loading applications.
 LD_BIND_NOW=true @CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_LIBEXECDIR_KF5@/start_kdeinit_wrapper --kded +kcminit_startup
+qdbus org.kde.KSplash /KSplash org.kde.KSplash.setStage kinit
 if test $? -ne 0; then
   # Startup error
   echo 'startkde: Could not start kdeinit5. Check your installation.'  1>&2