diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 35ef6fb59b..7bea96a383 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -271,6 +271,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 - Fixed bug where data-loading functions where not getting the correct running stage passed ([#8858](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/8858))
 
 
+- Fixed error handling in DDP process reconciliation when `_sync_dir` was not initialized ([#9267](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/9267))
+
+
 ## [1.4.5] - 2021-08-31
 
 - Fixed reduction using `self.log(sync_dict=True, reduce_fx={mean,max})` ([#9142](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/9142))
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/ddp.py b/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/ddp.py
index 2396670a49..143518262b 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/ddp.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/plugins/training_type/ddp.py
@@ -375,6 +375,9 @@ class DDPPlugin(ParallelPlugin):
         return [self.root_device.index]
 
     def pre_dispatch(self):
+        # share ddp pids to all processes
+        self._share_information_to_prevent_deadlock()
+
         # move the model to the correct device
         self.model_to_device()
 
@@ -386,9 +389,6 @@ class DDPPlugin(ParallelPlugin):
         if trainer_fn == TrainerFn.FITTING:
             self.configure_ddp()
 
-        # share ddp pids to all processes
-        self._share_information_to_prevent_deadlock()
-
     def post_dispatch(self) -> None:
         self.cluster_environment.teardown()
 
@@ -489,6 +489,10 @@ class DDPPlugin(ParallelPlugin):
 
         sync_dir = self._sync_dir
 
+        if not sync_dir:
+            rank_zero_warn("Error handling mechanism for deadlock detection is uninitialized. Skipping check.")
+            return
+
         # The cluster may be configured to periodically purge the `/tmp`
         # directory, in which case `sync_dir` may not exist anymore at this
         # point. Idempotently create it to ensure its existence.