diff --git a/PENDING.md b/PENDING.md
index b129bfcbb..ae07da0bd 100644
--- a/PENDING.md
+++ b/PENDING.md
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ IMPROVEMENTS
 BUG FIXES
 
 * Gaia REST API (`gaiacli advanced rest-server`)
-  - [gaia-lite] #2868 Added handler for governance tally endpoit
+  - [gaia-lite] #2868 Added handler for governance tally endpoint
+  * #2907 Refactor and fix the way Gaia Lite is started.
 
 * Gaia CLI  (`gaiacli`)
 
diff --git a/client/lcd/root.go b/client/lcd/root.go
index 986e53006..67639b8a2 100644
--- a/client/lcd/root.go
+++ b/client/lcd/root.go
@@ -145,15 +145,19 @@ func (rs *RestServer) Start(listenAddr string, sslHosts string,
 	return nil
 }
 
-// ServeCommand will generate a long-running rest server
-// (aka Light Client Daemon) that exposes functionality similar
-// to the cli, but over rest
-func (rs *RestServer) ServeCommand() *cobra.Command {
+// ServeCommand will start a Gaia Lite REST service as a blocking process. It
+// takes a codec to create a RestServer object and a function to register all
+// necessary routes.
+func ServeCommand(cdc *codec.Codec, registerRoutesFn func(*RestServer)) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "rest-server",
 		Short: "Start LCD (light-client daemon), a local REST server",
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
+			rs := NewRestServer(cdc)
+
 			rs.setKeybase(nil)
+			registerRoutesFn(rs)
+
 			// Start the rest server and return error if one exists
 			err = rs.Start(
 				viper.GetString(client.FlagListenAddr),
diff --git a/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiacli/main.go b/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiacli/main.go
index 05c7bc4ec..354de8c5d 100644
--- a/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiacli/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gaia/cmd/gaiacli/main.go
@@ -60,12 +60,6 @@ func main() {
 	config.SetBech32PrefixForConsensusNode(sdk.Bech32PrefixConsAddr, sdk.Bech32PrefixConsPub)
 	config.Seal()
 
-	// Create a new RestServer instance to serve the light client routes
-	rs := lcd.NewRestServer(cdc)
-
-	// registerRoutes registers the routes on the rest server
-	registerRoutes(rs)
-
 	// TODO: setup keybase, viper object, etc. to be passed into
 	// the below functions and eliminate global vars, like we do
 	// with the cdc
@@ -92,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 		queryCmd(cdc, mc),
 		txCmd(cdc, mc),
 		client.LineBreak,
-		rs.ServeCommand(),
+		lcd.ServeCommand(cdc, registerRoutes),
 		client.LineBreak,
 		keys.Commands(),
 		client.LineBreak,
diff --git a/docs/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecli/main.go b/docs/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecli/main.go
index 8093dd3b1..6e274123e 100644
--- a/docs/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecli/main.go
+++ b/docs/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecli/main.go
@@ -52,10 +52,6 @@ func main() {
 	config.SetBech32PrefixForConsensusNode("basecons", "baseconspub")
 	config.Seal()
 
-	rs := lcd.NewRestServer(cdc)
-
-	registerRoutes(rs)
-
 	// TODO: Setup keybase, viper object, etc. to be passed into
 	// the below functions and eliminate global vars, like we do
 	// with the cdc.
@@ -104,7 +100,7 @@ func main() {
 	// add proxy, version and key info
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(
 		client.LineBreak,
-		rs.ServeCommand(),
+		lcd.ServeCommand(cdc, registerRoutes),
 		keys.Commands(),
 		client.LineBreak,
 		version.VersionCmd,
diff --git a/docs/examples/democoin/cmd/democli/main.go b/docs/examples/democoin/cmd/democli/main.go
index a001ee8b5..d3d0e5ff0 100644
--- a/docs/examples/democoin/cmd/democli/main.go
+++ b/docs/examples/democoin/cmd/democli/main.go
@@ -48,10 +48,6 @@ func main() {
 	config.SetBech32PrefixForConsensusNode("democons", "democonspub")
 	config.Seal()
 
-	rs := lcd.NewRestServer(cdc)
-
-	registerRoutes(rs)
-
 	// TODO: setup keybase, viper object, etc. to be passed into
 	// the below functions and eliminate global vars, like we do
 	// with the cdc
@@ -94,7 +90,7 @@ func main() {
 	// add proxy, version and key info
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(
 		client.LineBreak,
-		rs.ServeCommand(),
+		lcd.ServeCommand(cdc, registerRoutes),
 		keys.Commands(),
 		client.LineBreak,
 		version.VersionCmd,