diff --git a/changelog/13042.txt b/changelog/13042.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..192b4d4636ed1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/13042.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+core: Fix warnings logged on perf standbys re stored versions
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vault/activity_log.go b/vault/activity_log.go
index 59e524bd1bfd0..d57242b479797 100644
--- a/vault/activity_log.go
+++ b/vault/activity_log.go
@@ -411,6 +411,8 @@ func (a *ActivityLog) saveCurrentSegmentInternal(ctx context.Context, force bool
 	// be written to storage, since if we remove this code we will incur
 	// data loss for one segment's worth of TWEs.
 	if len(a.currentSegment.tokenCount.CountByNamespaceID) > 0 || force {
+		// We can get away with simply using the oldest version stored because
+		// the storing of versions was introduced at the same time as this code.
 		oldestVersion, oldestUpgradeTime, err := a.core.FindOldestVersionTimestamp()
 		switch {
 		case err != nil:
@@ -1086,7 +1088,6 @@ func (c *Core) setupActivityLog(ctx context.Context, wg *sync.WaitGroup) error {
 // stopActivityLog removes the ActivityLog from Core
 // and frees any resources.
 func (c *Core) stopActivityLog() {
-
 	// preSeal may run before startActivityLog got a chance to complete.
 	if c.activityLog != nil {
 		// Shut down background worker
diff --git a/vault/core.go b/vault/core.go
index 3b9242498d26b..77408ef089688 100644
--- a/vault/core.go
+++ b/vault/core.go
@@ -1047,17 +1047,17 @@ func NewCore(conf *CoreConfig) (*Core, error) {
 
 // HandleVersionTimeStamps stores the current version at the current time to
 // storage, and then loads all versions and upgrade timestamps out from storage.
-func (c *Core) HandleVersionTimeStamps(ctx context.Context) error {
+func (c *Core) handleVersionTimeStamps(ctx context.Context) error {
 	currentTime := time.Now()
-	isUpdated, err := c.StoreVersionTimestamp(ctx, version.Version, currentTime)
+	isUpdated, err := c.storeVersionTimestamp(ctx, version.Version, currentTime)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return fmt.Errorf("error storing vault version: %w", err)
 	}
 	if isUpdated {
 		c.logger.Info("Recorded vault version", "vault version", version.Version, "upgrade time", currentTime)
 	}
 	// Finally, load the versions into core fields
-	err = c.HandleLoadVersionTimestamps(ctx)
+	err = c.loadVersionTimestamps(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -2000,6 +2000,9 @@ func (s standardUnsealStrategy) unseal(ctx context.Context, logger log.Logger, c
 			return err
 		}
 	}
+	if err := c.handleVersionTimeStamps(ctx); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	if err := c.setupPluginCatalog(ctx); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -2157,11 +2160,6 @@ func (c *Core) postUnseal(ctx context.Context, ctxCancelFunc context.CancelFunc,
 			c.logger.Warn("post-unseal post seal migration failed", "error", err)
 		}
 	}
-	err := c.HandleVersionTimeStamps(c.activeContext)
-	if err != nil {
-		c.logger.Warn("post-unseal version timestamp setup failed", "error", err)
-
-	}
 
 	c.logger.Info("post-unseal setup complete")
 	return nil
@@ -2689,7 +2687,6 @@ func (c *Core) SetConfig(conf *server.Config) {
 }
 
 func (c *Core) GetListenerCustomResponseHeaders(listenerAdd string) *ListenerCustomHeaders {
-
 	customHeaders := c.customListenerHeader.Load()
 	if customHeaders == nil {
 		return nil
diff --git a/vault/core_util_common.go b/vault/core_util_common.go
index a70cac733db33..d992037122151 100644
--- a/vault/core_util_common.go
+++ b/vault/core_util_common.go
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ import (
 
 const vaultVersionPath string = "core/versions/"
 
-// StoreVersionTimestamp will store the version and timestamp pair to storage only if no entry
+// storeVersionTimestamp will store the version and timestamp pair to storage only if no entry
 // for that version already exists in storage.
-func (c *Core) StoreVersionTimestamp(ctx context.Context, version string, currentTime time.Time) (bool, error) {
+func (c *Core) storeVersionTimestamp(ctx context.Context, version string, currentTime time.Time) (bool, error) {
 	timeStamp, err := c.barrier.Get(ctx, vaultVersionPath+version)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
@@ -39,27 +39,6 @@ func (c *Core) StoreVersionTimestamp(ctx context.Context, version string, curren
 	return true, nil
 }
 
-// FindMostRecentVersionTimestamp loads the current vault version and associated
-// upgrade time from storage.
-func (c *Core) FindMostRecentVersionTimestamp() (string, time.Time, error) {
-	if c.VersionTimestamps == nil || len(c.VersionTimestamps) == 0 {
-		return "", time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("Version timestamps are not initialized")
-	}
-	var latestUpgradeTime time.Time
-	var mostRecentVersion string
-	for version, upgradeTime := range c.VersionTimestamps {
-		if upgradeTime.After(latestUpgradeTime) {
-			mostRecentVersion = version
-			latestUpgradeTime = upgradeTime
-		}
-	}
-	// This if-case should never be hit
-	if mostRecentVersion == "" {
-		return "", latestUpgradeTime, fmt.Errorf("Empty vault version was written to storage at time: %+v", latestUpgradeTime)
-	}
-	return mostRecentVersion, latestUpgradeTime, nil
-}
-
 // FindOldestVersionTimestamp searches for the vault version with the oldest
 // upgrade timestamp from storage. The earliest version this can be (barring
 // downgrades) is 1.9.0.
@@ -80,9 +59,9 @@ func (c *Core) FindOldestVersionTimestamp() (string, time.Time, error) {
 	return oldestVersion, oldestUpgradeTime, nil
 }
 
-// HandleLoadVersionTimestamps loads all the vault versions and associated
+// loadVersionTimestamps loads all the vault versions and associated
 // upgrade timestamps from storage.
-func (c *Core) HandleLoadVersionTimestamps(ctx context.Context) (retErr error) {
+func (c *Core) loadVersionTimestamps(ctx context.Context) (retErr error) {
 	vaultVersions, err := c.barrier.List(ctx, vaultVersionPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unable to retrieve vault versions from storage: %+w", err)
diff --git a/vault/core_util_common_test.go b/vault/core_util_common_test.go
index 46fda7ed96556..906988a8f0910 100644
--- a/vault/core_util_common_test.go
+++ b/vault/core_util_common_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 func TestStoreMultipleVaultVersions(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _, _ := TestCoreUnsealed(t)
 	upgradeTimePlusEpsilon := time.Now()
-	wasStored, err := c.StoreVersionTimestamp(context.Background(), version.Version, upgradeTimePlusEpsilon.Add(30*time.Hour))
+	wasStored, err := c.storeVersionTimestamp(context.Background(), version.Version, upgradeTimePlusEpsilon.Add(30*time.Hour))
 	if err != nil || wasStored {
 		t.Fatalf("vault version was re-stored: %v, err is: %s", wasStored, err.Error())
 	}
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ func TestGetOldestVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	c, _, _ := TestCoreUnsealed(t)
 	upgradeTimePlusEpsilon := time.Now()
 
-	c.StoreVersionTimestamp(context.Background(), "1.9.1", upgradeTimePlusEpsilon.Add(-4*time.Hour))
-	c.StoreVersionTimestamp(context.Background(), "1.9.2", upgradeTimePlusEpsilon.Add(2*time.Hour))
-	c.HandleLoadVersionTimestamps(c.activeContext)
+	c.storeVersionTimestamp(context.Background(), "1.9.1", upgradeTimePlusEpsilon.Add(-4*time.Hour))
+	c.storeVersionTimestamp(context.Background(), "1.9.2", upgradeTimePlusEpsilon.Add(2*time.Hour))
+	c.loadVersionTimestamps(c.activeContext)
 	if len(c.VersionTimestamps) != 3 {
 		t.Fatalf("expected 3 entries in timestamps map after refresh, found: %d", len(c.VersionTimestamps))
 	}