diff --git a/pkg/api/controller.go b/pkg/api/controller.go
index 09ca9615..cfd37279 100644
--- a/pkg/api/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/api/controller.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"zotregistry.io/zot/errors"
 	"zotregistry.io/zot/pkg/api/config"
 	ext "zotregistry.io/zot/pkg/extensions"
+	extconf "zotregistry.io/zot/pkg/extensions/config"
 	"zotregistry.io/zot/pkg/extensions/monitoring"
 	"zotregistry.io/zot/pkg/log"
 	"zotregistry.io/zot/pkg/meta"
@@ -286,26 +287,34 @@ func (c *Controller) InitMetaDB(reloadCtx context.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Controller) LoadNewConfig(reloadCtx context.Context, config *config.Config) {
+func (c *Controller) LoadNewConfig(reloadCtx context.Context, newConfig *config.Config) {
 	// reload access control config
-	c.Config.HTTP.AccessControl = config.HTTP.AccessControl
+	c.Config.HTTP.AccessControl = newConfig.HTTP.AccessControl
 
-	// reload periodical gc interval
-	c.Config.Storage.GCInterval = config.Storage.GCInterval
+	// reload periodical gc config
+	c.Config.Storage.GCInterval = newConfig.Storage.GCInterval
+	c.Config.Storage.GC = newConfig.Storage.GC
+	c.Config.Storage.GCDelay = newConfig.Storage.GCDelay
+	c.Config.Storage.GCReferrers = newConfig.Storage.GCReferrers
 
 	// reload background tasks
-	if config.Extensions != nil {
+	if newConfig.Extensions != nil {
+		if c.Config.Extensions == nil {
+			c.Config.Extensions = &extconf.ExtensionConfig{}
+		}
+
 		// reload sync extension
-		c.Config.Extensions.Sync = config.Extensions.Sync
-		// reload search cve extension
-		if c.Config.Extensions.Search != nil {
-			// reload only if search is enabled and reloaded config has search extension
-			if *c.Config.Extensions.Search.Enable && config.Extensions.Search != nil {
-				c.Config.Extensions.Search.CVE = config.Extensions.Search.CVE
+		c.Config.Extensions.Sync = newConfig.Extensions.Sync
+
+		// reload only if search is enabled and reloaded config has search extension (can't setup routes at this stage)
+		if c.Config.Extensions.Search != nil && *c.Config.Extensions.Search.Enable {
+			if newConfig.Extensions.Search != nil {
+				c.Config.Extensions.Search.CVE = newConfig.Extensions.Search.CVE
 			}
 		}
+
 		// reload scrub extension
-		c.Config.Extensions.Scrub = config.Extensions.Scrub
+		c.Config.Extensions.Scrub = newConfig.Extensions.Scrub
 	} else {
 		c.Config.Extensions = nil
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go b/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
index 66e74125..f07ac9db 100644
--- a/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
+++ b/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
@@ -1835,9 +1835,6 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 			_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(" ")
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
-			err = cfgfile.Close()
-			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-
 			time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
 
 			data, err := os.ReadFile(logFile.Name())
@@ -1846,6 +1843,64 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "reloaded params")
 			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "new configuration settings")
 			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "\"Extensions\":null")
+
+			// reload config from extensions nil to sync
+			content = fmt.Sprintf(`{
+				"distSpecVersion": "1.1.0-dev",
+				"storage": {
+					"rootDirectory": "%s"
+				},
+				"http": {
+					"address": "127.0.0.1",
+					"port": "%s"
+				},
+				"log": {
+					"level": "debug",
+					"output": "%s"
+				},
+				"extensions": {
+					"sync": {
+						"registries": [{
+							"urls": ["https://localhost:9999"],
+							"tlsVerify": true,
+							"onDemand": true,
+							"content":[
+								{
+									"prefix": "zot-test",
+									"tags": {
+										"regex": ".*",
+										"semver": true
+									}
+								}
+							]
+						}]
+					}
+				}
+			}`, destDir, destPort, logFile.Name())
+
+			err = cfgfile.Truncate(0)
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+			_, err = cfgfile.Seek(0, 0)
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+			time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+
+			_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+			err = cfgfile.Close()
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+			time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+
+			data, err = os.ReadFile(logFile.Name())
+			t.Logf("downstream log: %s", string(data))
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "reloaded params")
+			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "new configuration settings")
+			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "\"TLSVerify\":true")
+			So(string(data), ShouldContainSubstring, "\"OnDemand\":true")
 		})
 
 		//nolint: dupl
diff --git a/pkg/storage/imagestore/imagestore.go b/pkg/storage/imagestore/imagestore.go
index 3b611d2d..b234aa1a 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/imagestore/imagestore.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/imagestore/imagestore.go
@@ -2040,7 +2040,7 @@ func (is *ImageStore) getOriginalBlob(digest godigest.Digest, duplicateBlobs []s
 
 	// if we still don't have, search it
 	if originalBlob == "" {
-		is.log.Warn().Msg("rebuild dedupe: failed to find blob in cache, searching it in s3...")
+		is.log.Warn().Msg("rebuild dedupe: failed to find blob in cache, searching it in storage...")
 		// a rebuild dedupe was attempted in the past
 		// get original blob, should be found otherwise exit with error