diff --git a/src/applications/search/management/PhabricatorSearchManagementInitWorkflow.php b/src/applications/search/management/PhabricatorSearchManagementInitWorkflow.php
--- a/src/applications/search/management/PhabricatorSearchManagementInitWorkflow.php
+++ b/src/applications/search/management/PhabricatorSearchManagementInitWorkflow.php
@@ -6,60 +6,65 @@
   protected function didConstruct() {
     $this
       ->setName('init')
-      ->setSynopsis(pht('Initialize or repair an index.'))
+      ->setSynopsis(pht('Initialize or repair a search service.'))
       ->setExamples('**init**');
   }
 
   public function execute(PhutilArgumentParser $args) {
-    $console = PhutilConsole::getConsole();
 
     $work_done = false;
     foreach (PhabricatorSearchService::getAllServices() as $service) {
-      $console->writeOut(
+      echo tsprintf(
         "%s\n",
-        pht('Initializing search service "%s"', $service->getDisplayName()));
+        pht(
+          'Initializing search service "%s".',
+          $service->getDisplayName()));
 
-      try {
-        $host = $service->getAnyHostForRole('write');
-      } catch (PhabricatorClusterNoHostForRoleException $e) {
-        // If there are no writable hosts for a given cluster, skip it
-        $console->writeOut("%s\n", $e->getMessage());
+      if (!$service->isWritable()) {
+        echo tsprintf(
+          "%s\n",
+          pht(
+            'Skipping service "%s" because it is not writable.',
+            $service->getDisplayName()));
         continue;
       }
 
-      $engine = $host->getEngine();
+      $engine = $service->getEngine();
 
       if (!$engine->indexExists()) {
-        $console->writeOut(
-          '%s',
-          pht('Index does not exist, creating...'));
-        $engine->initIndex();
-        $console->writeOut(
+        echo tsprintf(
           "%s\n",
-          pht('done.'));
+          pht('Service index does not exist, creating...'));
+
+        $engine->initIndex();
         $work_done = true;
       } else if (!$engine->indexIsSane()) {
-        $console->writeOut(
-          '%s',
-          pht('Index exists but is incorrect, fixing...'));
-        $engine->initIndex();
-        $console->writeOut(
+        echo tsprintf(
           "%s\n",
-          pht('done.'));
+          pht('Service index is out of date, repairing...'));
+
+        $engine->initIndex();
         $work_done = true;
+      } else {
+        echo tsprintf(
+          "%s\n",
+          pht('Service index is already up to date.'));
       }
-    }
 
-    if ($work_done) {
-      $console->writeOut(
+      echo tsprintf(
         "%s\n",
-        pht(
-          'Index maintenance complete. Run `%s` to reindex documents',
-          './bin/search index'));
-    } else {
-      $console->writeOut(
+        pht('Done.'));
+    }
+
+    if (!$work_done) {
+      echo tsprintf(
         "%s\n",
-        pht('Nothing to do.'));
+        pht('No services need initialization.'));
+      return 0;
     }
+
+    echo tsprintf(
+      "%s\n",
+      pht('Service initialization complete.'));
   }
 }