diff --git a/nomad/eval_endpoint.go b/nomad/eval_endpoint.go
index ff30eaba836..fa7b23dcd4e 100644
--- a/nomad/eval_endpoint.go
+++ b/nomad/eval_endpoint.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func (e *Eval) Dequeue(args *structs.EvalDequeueRequest,
 	// Provide the output if any
 	if eval != nil {
 		// Get the index that the worker should wait until before scheduling.
-		waitIndex, err := e.getWaitIndex(eval.Namespace, eval.JobID)
+		waitIndex, err := e.getWaitIndex(eval.Namespace, eval.JobID, eval.ModifyIndex)
 		if err != nil {
 			var mErr multierror.Error
 			multierror.Append(&mErr, err)
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ func (e *Eval) Dequeue(args *structs.EvalDequeueRequest,
 // invoking the scheduler. The index should be the highest modify index of any
 // evaluation for the job. This prevents scheduling races for the same job when
 // there are blocked evaluations.
-func (e *Eval) getWaitIndex(namespace, job string) (uint64, error) {
+func (e *Eval) getWaitIndex(namespace, job string, evalModifyIndex uint64) (uint64, error) {
 	snap, err := e.srv.State().Snapshot()
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
@@ -144,7 +144,10 @@ func (e *Eval) getWaitIndex(namespace, job string) (uint64, error) {
 		return 0, err
 	}
 
-	var max uint64
+	// Since dequeueing evals is concurrent with applying Raft messages to
+	// the state store, initialize to the currently dequeued eval's index
+	// in case it isn't in the snapshot used by EvalsByJob yet.
+	max := evalModifyIndex
 	for _, eval := range evals {
 		if max < eval.ModifyIndex {
 			max = eval.ModifyIndex
diff --git a/nomad/eval_endpoint_test.go b/nomad/eval_endpoint_test.go
index 43662ed8c73..6051d4040e5 100644
--- a/nomad/eval_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/nomad/eval_endpoint_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/scheduler"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/testutil"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 func TestEvalEndpoint_GetEval(t *testing.T) {
@@ -239,7 +240,9 @@ func TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_WaitIndex(t *testing.T) {
+// TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_WaitIndex_Snapshot asserts that an eval's wait
+// index will be equal to the highest eval modify index in the state store.
+func TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_WaitIndex_Snapshot(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	s1 := TestServer(t, func(c *Config) {
 		c.NumSchedulers = 0 // Prevent automatic dequeue
@@ -285,6 +288,48 @@ func TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_WaitIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_WaitIndex_Eval asserts that an eval's wait index
+// will be its own modify index if its modify index is greater than all of the
+// indexes in the state store. This can happen if Dequeue receives an eval that
+// has not yet been applied from the Raft log to the local node's state store.
+func TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_WaitIndex_Eval(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	s1 := TestServer(t, func(c *Config) {
+		c.NumSchedulers = 0 // Prevent automatic dequeue
+	})
+	defer s1.Shutdown()
+	codec := rpcClient(t, s1)
+	testutil.WaitForLeader(t, s1.RPC)
+
+	// Create the register request but only upsert 1 into the state store
+	eval1 := mock.Eval()
+	eval2 := mock.Eval()
+	eval2.JobID = eval1.JobID
+	s1.fsm.State().UpsertEvals(1000, []*structs.Evaluation{eval1})
+	eval2.ModifyIndex = 1001
+	s1.evalBroker.Enqueue(eval2)
+
+	// Dequeue the eval
+	get := &structs.EvalDequeueRequest{
+		Schedulers:       defaultSched,
+		SchedulerVersion: scheduler.SchedulerVersion,
+		WriteRequest:     structs.WriteRequest{Region: "global"},
+	}
+	var resp structs.EvalDequeueResponse
+	require.NoError(t, msgpackrpc.CallWithCodec(codec, "Eval.Dequeue", get, &resp))
+	require.Equal(t, eval2, resp.Eval)
+
+	// Ensure outstanding
+	token, ok := s1.evalBroker.Outstanding(eval2.ID)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.Equal(t, resp.Token, token)
+
+	// WaitIndex should be equal to the max ModifyIndex - even when that
+	// modify index is of the dequeued eval which has yet to be applied to
+	// the state store.
+	require.Equal(t, eval2.ModifyIndex, resp.WaitIndex)
+}
+
 func TestEvalEndpoint_Dequeue_UpdateWaitIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	// test enqueuing an eval, updating a plan result for the same eval and de-queueing the eval
 	t.Parallel()