diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0a3515a5b7a9..8c6bc2fa2a91 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ Every module contains its own CHANGELOG.md. Please refer to the module you are i
 
 * (sims) [#21906](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/21906) Skip sims test when running dry on validators
 * (cli) [#21919](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/21919) Query address-by-acc-num by account_id instead of id.
+* (cli) [#22656](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/22656) Prune cmd should disable async pruning.
 
 ### API Breaking Changes
 
diff --git a/baseapp/options.go b/baseapp/options.go
index 743d04c5543c..54e2f88a1b3c 100644
--- a/baseapp/options.go
+++ b/baseapp/options.go
@@ -86,6 +86,11 @@ func SetIAVLDisableFastNode(disable bool) func(*BaseApp) {
 	return func(bapp *BaseApp) { bapp.cms.SetIAVLDisableFastNode(disable) }
 }
 
+// SetIAVLSyncPruning set sync/async pruning in the IAVL store.
+func SetIAVLSyncPruning(syncPruning bool) func(*BaseApp) {
+	return func(bapp *BaseApp) { bapp.cms.SetIAVLSyncPruning(syncPruning) }
+}
+
 // SetInterBlockCache provides a BaseApp option function that sets the
 // inter-block cache.
 func SetInterBlockCache(cache storetypes.MultiStorePersistentCache) func(*BaseApp) {
diff --git a/client/pruning/main.go b/client/pruning/main.go
index bdcff50a9bc5..0168308ea325 100644
--- a/client/pruning/main.go
+++ b/client/pruning/main.go
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ Supported app-db-backend types include 'goleveldb', 'rocksdb', 'pebbledb'.`,
 				return err
 			}
 
+			// must disable async pruning
+			vp.Set(server.FlagIAVLSyncPruning, true)
+
 			// use the first argument if present to set the pruning method
 			if len(args) > 0 {
 				vp.Set(server.FlagPruning, args[0])
@@ -72,6 +75,9 @@ Supported app-db-backend types include 'goleveldb', 'rocksdb', 'pebbledb'.`,
 				return err
 			}
 
+			// in our test, it's important to close db explicitly for pebbledb to write to disk.
+			defer db.Close()
+
 			logger := log.NewLogger(cmd.OutOrStdout())
 			app := appCreator(logger, db, nil, vp)
 			cms := app.CommitMultiStore()
diff --git a/server/mock/store.go b/server/mock/store.go
index 18bb4f2d7d40..12755c613731 100644
--- a/server/mock/store.go
+++ b/server/mock/store.go
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ func (ms multiStore) SetIAVLDisableFastNode(disable bool) {
 	panic("not implemented")
 }
 
+func (ms multiStore) SetIAVLSyncPruning(syncPruning bool) {
+	panic("not implemented")
+}
+
 func (ms multiStore) SetInitialVersion(version int64) error {
 	panic("not implemented")
 }
diff --git a/server/start.go b/server/start.go
index f9ae56676305..7c74255e6992 100644
--- a/server/start.go
+++ b/server/start.go
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ const (
 	FlagMinRetainBlocks     = "min-retain-blocks"
 	FlagIAVLCacheSize       = "iavl-cache-size"
 	FlagDisableIAVLFastNode = "iavl-disable-fastnode"
+	FlagIAVLSyncPruning     = "iavl-sync-pruning"
 	FlagShutdownGrace       = "shutdown-grace"
 
 	// state sync-related flags
diff --git a/server/util.go b/server/util.go
index ca28fc568a3b..4bd944d356fb 100644
--- a/server/util.go
+++ b/server/util.go
@@ -555,6 +555,7 @@ func DefaultBaseappOptions(appOpts types.AppOptions) []func(*baseapp.BaseApp) {
 		baseapp.SetSnapshot(snapshotStore, snapshotOptions),
 		baseapp.SetIAVLCacheSize(cast.ToInt(appOpts.Get(FlagIAVLCacheSize))),
 		baseapp.SetIAVLDisableFastNode(cast.ToBool(appOpts.Get(FlagDisableIAVLFastNode))),
+		baseapp.SetIAVLSyncPruning(cast.ToBool(appOpts.Get(FlagIAVLSyncPruning))),
 		defaultMempool,
 		baseapp.SetChainID(chainID),
 		baseapp.SetQueryGasLimit(cast.ToUint64(appOpts.Get(FlagQueryGasLimit))),
diff --git a/store/iavl/store.go b/store/iavl/store.go
index ab04b73c47b7..aa44a0b7438d 100644
--- a/store/iavl/store.go
+++ b/store/iavl/store.go
@@ -51,11 +51,16 @@ func LoadStore(db corestore.KVStoreWithBatch, logger types.Logger, key types.Sto
 // provided DB. An error is returned if the version fails to load, or if called with a positive
 // version on an empty tree.
 func LoadStoreWithInitialVersion(db corestore.KVStoreWithBatch, logger types.Logger, key types.StoreKey, id types.CommitID, initialVersion uint64, cacheSize int, disableFastNode bool, metrics metrics.StoreMetrics) (types.CommitKVStore, error) {
+	return LoadStoreWithOpts(db, logger, key, id, initialVersion, cacheSize, disableFastNode, metrics, iavl.AsyncPruningOption(true))
+}
+
+func LoadStoreWithOpts(db corestore.KVStoreWithBatch, logger types.Logger, key types.StoreKey, id types.CommitID, initialVersion uint64, cacheSize int, disableFastNode bool, metrics metrics.StoreMetrics, opts ...iavl.Option) (types.CommitKVStore, error) {
 	// store/v1 and app/v1 flows never require an initial version of 0
 	if initialVersion == 0 {
 		initialVersion = 1
 	}
-	tree := iavl.NewMutableTree(db, cacheSize, disableFastNode, logger, iavl.InitialVersionOption(initialVersion), iavl.AsyncPruningOption(true))
+	opts = append(opts, iavl.InitialVersionOption(initialVersion))
+	tree := iavl.NewMutableTree(db, cacheSize, disableFastNode, logger, opts...)
 
 	isUpgradeable, err := tree.IsUpgradeable()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/store/rootmulti/store.go b/store/rootmulti/store.go
index e821e930de7f..50ccc8af67b1 100644
--- a/store/rootmulti/store.go
+++ b/store/rootmulti/store.go
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ type Store struct {
 	pruningManager      *pruning.Manager
 	iavlCacheSize       int
 	iavlDisableFastNode bool
+	iavlSyncPruning     bool
 	storesParams        map[types.StoreKey]storeParams
 	stores              map[types.StoreKey]types.CommitKVStore
 	keysByName          map[string]types.StoreKey
@@ -133,6 +134,10 @@ func (rs *Store) SetIAVLDisableFastNode(disableFastNode bool) {
 	rs.iavlDisableFastNode = disableFastNode
 }
 
+func (rs *Store) SetIAVLSyncPruning(syncPruning bool) {
+	rs.iavlSyncPruning = syncPruning
+}
+
 // GetStoreType implements Store.
 func (rs *Store) GetStoreType() types.StoreType {
 	return types.StoreTypeMulti
@@ -1033,15 +1038,7 @@ func (rs *Store) loadCommitStoreFromParams(key types.StoreKey, id types.CommitID
 		panic("recursive MultiStores not yet supported")
 
 	case types.StoreTypeIAVL:
-		var store types.CommitKVStore
-		var err error
-
-		if params.initialVersion == 0 {
-			store, err = iavl.LoadStore(db, rs.logger, key, id, rs.iavlCacheSize, rs.iavlDisableFastNode, rs.metrics)
-		} else {
-			store, err = iavl.LoadStoreWithInitialVersion(db, rs.logger, key, id, params.initialVersion, rs.iavlCacheSize, rs.iavlDisableFastNode, rs.metrics)
-		}
-
+		store, err := iavl.LoadStoreWithOpts(db, rs.logger, key, id, params.initialVersion, rs.iavlCacheSize, rs.iavlDisableFastNode, rs.metrics, iavltree.AsyncPruningOption(!rs.iavlSyncPruning))
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/store/types/store.go b/store/types/store.go
index 8aab76a170b0..16ffc90c72d1 100644
--- a/store/types/store.go
+++ b/store/types/store.go
@@ -221,6 +221,9 @@ type CommitMultiStore interface {
 	// SetIAVLDisableFastNode enables/disables fastnode feature on iavl.
 	SetIAVLDisableFastNode(disable bool)
 
+	// SetIAVLSyncPruning set sync/async pruning on iavl.
+	SetIAVLSyncPruning(sync bool)
+
 	// RollbackToVersion rollback the db to specific version(height).
 	RollbackToVersion(version int64) error