diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/app.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/app.tsx
index 3df176ff25cb41..8b50d794d070d1 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/app.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/app.tsx
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import { Storage } from '../../../../../src/plugins/kibana_utils/public';
 
 import { KibanaContextProvider } from '../../../../../src/plugins/kibana_react/public';
 import { setDependencyCache, clearCache } from './util/dependency_cache';
-import { setLicenseCache } from './license';
 import { MlSetupDependencies, MlStartDependencies } from '../plugin';
 
 import { MlRouter } from './routing';
@@ -80,14 +79,11 @@ export const renderApp = (
 
   deps.kibanaLegacy.loadFontAwesome();
 
-  const mlLicense = setLicenseCache(deps.licensing);
-
   appMountParams.onAppLeave((actions) => actions.default());
 
   ReactDOM.render(<App coreStart={coreStart} deps={deps} />, appMountParams.element);
 
   return () => {
-    mlLicense.unsubscribe();
     clearCache();
     ReactDOM.unmountComponentAtNode(appMountParams.element);
   };
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/license/check_license.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/license/check_license.tsx
index 3584ee8fbee4b6..583eec7d75414d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/license/check_license.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/application/license/check_license.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { LicensingPluginSetup } from '../../../../licensing/public';
+import { MlLicense } from '../../../common/license';
 import { MlClientLicense } from './ml_client_license';
 
 let mlLicense: MlClientLicense | null = null;
@@ -16,9 +17,12 @@ let mlLicense: MlClientLicense | null = null;
  * @param {LicensingPluginSetup} licensingSetup
  * @returns {MlClientLicense}
  */
-export function setLicenseCache(licensingSetup: LicensingPluginSetup) {
+export function setLicenseCache(
+  licensingSetup: LicensingPluginSetup,
+  postInitFunctions?: Array<(lic: MlLicense) => void>
+) {
   mlLicense = new MlClientLicense();
-  mlLicense.setup(licensingSetup.license$);
+  mlLicense.setup(licensingSetup.license$, postInitFunctions);
   return mlLicense;
 }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/plugin.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/plugin.ts
index 7f7544a44efa7f..1659d8fa4f0f56 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ml/public/plugin.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import { registerEmbeddables } from './embeddables';
 import { UiActionsSetup } from '../../../../src/plugins/ui_actions/public';
 import { registerMlUiActions } from './ui_actions';
 import { KibanaLegacyStart } from '../../../../src/plugins/kibana_legacy/public';
+import { setLicenseCache } from './application/license';
 
 export interface MlStartDependencies {
   data: DataPublicPluginStart;
@@ -67,29 +68,52 @@ export class MlPlugin implements Plugin<MlPluginSetup, MlPluginStart> {
         const [coreStart, pluginsStart] = await core.getStartServices();
         const kibanaVersion = this.initializerContext.env.packageInfo.version;
         const { renderApp } = await import('./application/app');
-        return renderApp(
-          coreStart,
-          {
-            data: pluginsStart.data,
-            share: pluginsStart.share,
-            kibanaLegacy: pluginsStart.kibanaLegacy,
-            security: pluginsSetup.security,
-            licensing: pluginsSetup.licensing,
-            management: pluginsSetup.management,
-            usageCollection: pluginsSetup.usageCollection,
-            licenseManagement: pluginsSetup.licenseManagement,
-            home: pluginsSetup.home,
-            embeddable: pluginsSetup.embeddable,
-            uiActions: pluginsSetup.uiActions,
-            kibanaVersion,
+
+        // Creates a mutable object containing
+        // a boilerplate callback function which
+        // we'll update with the real callback once
+        // the license listener mounts the app.
+        const returnRef = { callback: () => {} };
+
+        // We pass the code to mount the app as a `postInitFunctions`
+        // callback to setLicenseCache/MlLicense.setup() so we make
+        // sure the app get mounted only after we received the
+        // license information.
+        const mlLicense = setLicenseCache(pluginsSetup.licensing, [
+          () => {
+            returnRef.callback = renderApp(
+              coreStart,
+              {
+                data: pluginsStart.data,
+                share: pluginsStart.share,
+                kibanaLegacy: pluginsStart.kibanaLegacy,
+                security: pluginsSetup.security,
+                licensing: pluginsSetup.licensing,
+                management: pluginsSetup.management,
+                usageCollection: pluginsSetup.usageCollection,
+                licenseManagement: pluginsSetup.licenseManagement,
+                home: pluginsSetup.home,
+                embeddable: pluginsSetup.embeddable,
+                uiActions: pluginsSetup.uiActions,
+                kibanaVersion,
+              },
+              {
+                element: params.element,
+                appBasePath: params.appBasePath,
+                onAppLeave: params.onAppLeave,
+                history: params.history,
+              }
+            );
           },
-          {
-            element: params.element,
-            appBasePath: params.appBasePath,
-            onAppLeave: params.onAppLeave,
-            history: params.history,
-          }
-        );
+        ]);
+
+        // Finally we return the unmount callback which includes
+        // unsubscribing from the license listener as well as
+        // the overall unmount callback from renderApp().
+        return () => {
+          mlLicense.unsubscribe();
+          returnRef.callback();
+        };
       },
     });