diff --git a/cmd/background-newdisks-heal-ops.go b/cmd/background-newdisks-heal-ops.go
index 8c9adaceb..63e157fce 100644
--- a/cmd/background-newdisks-heal-ops.go
+++ b/cmd/background-newdisks-heal-ops.go
@@ -490,6 +490,10 @@ func healFreshDisk(ctx context.Context, z *erasureServerPools, endpoint Endpoint
 	}
 
 	for _, disk := range disks {
+		if disk == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		t, err := loadHealingTracker(ctx, disk)
 		if err != nil {
 			if !errors.Is(err, errFileNotFound) {
diff --git a/cmd/erasure-server-pool-decom.go b/cmd/erasure-server-pool-decom.go
index a009cbc1b..83f35581a 100644
--- a/cmd/erasure-server-pool-decom.go
+++ b/cmd/erasure-server-pool-decom.go
@@ -936,7 +936,8 @@ func (z *erasureServerPools) decommissionPool(ctx context.Context, idx int, pool
 					bi.Name,
 					encodeDirObject(entry.name),
 					ObjectOptions{
-						DeletePrefix: true, // use prefix delete to delete all versions at once.
+						DeletePrefix:       true, // use prefix delete to delete all versions at once.
+						DeletePrefixObject: true, // use prefix delete on exact object (this is an optimization to avoid fan-out calls)
 					},
 				)
 				stopFn(err)
diff --git a/cmd/erasure-server-pool-rebalance.go b/cmd/erasure-server-pool-rebalance.go
index 78a1e7394..3cf32a329 100644
--- a/cmd/erasure-server-pool-rebalance.go
+++ b/cmd/erasure-server-pool-rebalance.go
@@ -114,12 +114,60 @@ func (z *erasureServerPools) loadRebalanceMeta(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	z.rebalMu.Lock()
-	z.rebalMeta = r
+	if len(r.PoolStats) == len(z.serverPools) {
+		z.rebalMeta = r
+	} else {
+		z.updateRebalanceStats(ctx)
+	}
 	z.rebalMu.Unlock()
 
 	return nil
 }
 
+// updates rebalance.bin from let's say 2 pool setup in the middle
+// of a rebalance, was expanded can cause z.rebalMeta to be outdated
+// due to a missing new pool. This function tries to handle this
+// scenario, albeit rare it seems to have occurred in the wild.
+//
+// since we do not explicitly disallow it, but it is okay for them
+// expand and then we continue to rebalance.
+func (z *erasureServerPools) updateRebalanceStats(ctx context.Context) error {
+	var ok bool
+	for i := range z.serverPools {
+		if z.findIndex(i) == -1 {
+			// Also ensure to initialize rebalanceStats to indicate
+			// its a new pool that can receive rebalanced data.
+			z.rebalMeta.PoolStats = append(z.rebalMeta.PoolStats, &rebalanceStats{})
+			ok = true
+		}
+	}
+	if ok {
+		lock := z.serverPools[0].NewNSLock(minioMetaBucket, rebalMetaName)
+		lkCtx, err := lock.GetLock(ctx, globalOperationTimeout)
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.LogIf(ctx, fmt.Errorf("failed to acquire write lock on %s/%s: %w", minioMetaBucket, rebalMetaName, err))
+			return err
+		}
+		defer lock.Unlock(lkCtx)
+
+		ctx = lkCtx.Context()
+
+		noLockOpts := ObjectOptions{NoLock: true}
+		return z.rebalMeta.saveWithOpts(ctx, z.serverPools[0], noLockOpts)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (z *erasureServerPools) findIndex(index int) int {
+	for i := 0; i < len(z.rebalMeta.PoolStats); i++ {
+		if i == index {
+			return index
+		}
+	}
+	return -1
+}
+
 // initRebalanceMeta initializes rebalance metadata for a new rebalance
 // operation and saves it in the object store.
 func (z *erasureServerPools) initRebalanceMeta(ctx context.Context, buckets []string) (arn string, err error) {
@@ -510,7 +558,6 @@ func (z *erasureServerPools) rebalanceBucket(ctx context.Context, bucket string,
 
 				// Apply lifecycle rules on the objects that are expired.
 				if filterLifecycle(bucket, version.Name, version) {
-					rebalanced++
 					expired++
 					continue
 				}
@@ -609,7 +656,8 @@ func (z *erasureServerPools) rebalanceBucket(ctx context.Context, bucket string,
 					bucket,
 					encodeDirObject(entry.name),
 					ObjectOptions{
-						DeletePrefix: true, // use prefix delete to delete all versions at once.
+						DeletePrefix:       true, // use prefix delete to delete all versions at once.
+						DeletePrefixObject: true, // use prefix delete on exact object (this is an optimization to avoid fan-out calls)
 					},
 				)
 				stopFn(err)
@@ -695,8 +743,7 @@ func (z *erasureServerPools) saveRebalanceStats(ctx context.Context, poolIdx int
 	}
 	z.rebalMeta = r
 
-	err = z.rebalMeta.saveWithOpts(ctx, z.serverPools[0], noLockOpts)
-	return err
+	return z.rebalMeta.saveWithOpts(ctx, z.serverPools[0], noLockOpts)
 }
 
 func auditLogRebalance(ctx context.Context, apiName, bucket, object, versionID string, err error) {