diff --git a/archinstall/lib/installer.py b/archinstall/lib/installer.py
index 40049c53..d577215c 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/installer.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/installer.py
@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@ class Installer:
 
 		self._zram_enabled = False
 		self._disable_fstrim = False
-		self._keyring_synced = True
 
 		self.pacman = Pacman(self.target, silent)
 
@@ -230,8 +229,7 @@ class Installer:
 				time.sleep(1)
 
 			if self._service_state('archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service') == 'failed':
-				self._keyring_synced = False
-				warn('archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync failed, custom mirror configuration will be skipped')
+				warn('archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync failed, keyring may need reinit during pacman sync')
 
 	def _verify_boot_part(self) -> None:
 		"""
@@ -251,10 +249,6 @@ class Installer:
 					f'Please resize it to at least 200MiB and re-run the installation.',
 				)
 
-	@property
-	def keyring_synced(self) -> bool:
-		return self._keyring_synced
-
 	def sanity_check(
 		self,
 		offline: bool = False,
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/pacman/pacman.py b/archinstall/lib/pacman/pacman.py
index c78f6145..bd845410 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/pacman/pacman.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/pacman/pacman.py
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ from collections.abc import Callable
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from archinstall.lib.command import SysCommand
-from archinstall.lib.exceptions import RequirementError
-from archinstall.lib.log import error, info, warn
+from archinstall.lib.exceptions import RequirementError, SysCallError
+from archinstall.lib.log import debug, error, info, warn
 from archinstall.lib.pathnames import PACMAN_CONF
 from archinstall.lib.plugins import plugins
 from archinstall.lib.translationhandler import tr
@@ -53,15 +53,45 @@ class Pacman:
 	def sync(self) -> None:
 		if self.synced:
 			return
-		self.ask(
-			'Could not sync a new package database',
-			'Could not sync mirrors',
-			self.run,
-			'-Syy',
-			default_cmd='pacman',
-		)
+
+		try:
+			self.run('-Syy', default_cmd='pacman')
+		except SysCallError as err:
+			if b'GPGME' in err.worker_log or b'keyring' in err.worker_log.lower():
+				warn('Pacman sync failed with keyring error, attempting keyring reinit')
+				self._reinit_keyring()
+				self.ask(
+					'Could not sync a new package database after keyring reinit',
+					'Could not sync mirrors',
+					self.run,
+					'-Syy',
+					default_cmd='pacman',
+				)
+			else:
+				self.ask(
+					'Could not sync a new package database',
+					'Could not sync mirrors',
+					self.run,
+					'-Syy',
+					default_cmd='pacman',
+				)
+
 		self.synced = True
 
+	@staticmethod
+	def _reinit_keyring() -> None:
+		try:
+			SysCommand('killall gpg-agent')
+		except SysCallError as err:
+			debug(f'killall gpg-agent failed (may not be running): {err}')
+
+		try:
+			SysCommand('pacman-key --init')
+			SysCommand('pacman-key --populate archlinux')
+			debug('Keyring reinitialized successfully')
+		except SysCallError as err:
+			debug(f'Keyring reinit failed: {err}')
+
 	def strap(self, packages: str | list[str]) -> None:
 		self.sync()
 		if isinstance(packages, str):
diff --git a/archinstall/scripts/guided.py b/archinstall/scripts/guided.py
index 1355d18f..6f484910 100644
--- a/archinstall/scripts/guided.py
+++ b/archinstall/scripts/guided.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from archinstall.lib.disk.utils import disk_layouts
 from archinstall.lib.general.general_menu import PostInstallationAction, select_post_installation
 from archinstall.lib.global_menu import GlobalMenu
 from archinstall.lib.installer import Installer, accessibility_tools_in_use, run_custom_user_commands
-from archinstall.lib.log import debug, error, info, warn
+from archinstall.lib.log import debug, error, info
 from archinstall.lib.menu.util import delayed_warning
 from archinstall.lib.mirror.mirror_handler import MirrorListHandler
 from archinstall.lib.models import Bootloader
@@ -98,10 +98,7 @@ def perform_installation(
 				installation.generate_key_files()
 
 		if mirror_config := config.mirror_config:
-			if installation.keyring_synced:
-				installation.set_mirrors(mirror_list_handler, mirror_config, on_target=False)
-			else:
-				warn('Skipping custom mirror configuration due to keyring sync failure')
+			installation.set_mirrors(mirror_list_handler, mirror_config, on_target=False)
 
 		installation.minimal_installation(
 			optional_repositories=optional_repositories,
@@ -112,10 +109,7 @@ def perform_installation(
 		)
 
 		if mirror_config := config.mirror_config:
-			if installation.keyring_synced:
-				installation.set_mirrors(mirror_list_handler, mirror_config, on_target=True)
-			else:
-				warn('Skipping target mirror configuration due to keyring sync failure')
+			installation.set_mirrors(mirror_list_handler, mirror_config, on_target=True)
 
 		if config.swap and config.swap.enabled:
 			installation.setup_swap(algo=config.swap.algorithm)