diff --git a/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_jwt.erl b/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_jwt.erl
index dd74754ba..60b35ddbb 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_jwt.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_jwt.erl
@@ -141,5 +141,5 @@ store_jwt(#{resource_id := ResourceId, table := TId}, JWT) ->
 is_about_to_expire(JWT) ->
     #jose_jwt{fields = #{<<"exp">> := Exp}} = jose_jwt:peek(JWT),
     Now = erlang:system_time(seconds),
-    GraceExp = Exp - timer:seconds(5),
+    GraceExp = Exp - 5,
     Now >= GraceExp.
diff --git a/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_resource.erl b/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_resource.erl
index 50b2132e2..8cb61793d 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_resource.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_connector/src/emqx_connector_resource.erl
@@ -352,8 +352,10 @@ safe_atom(Bin) when is_binary(Bin) -> binary_to_existing_atom(Bin, utf8);
 safe_atom(Atom) when is_atom(Atom) -> Atom.
 
 parse_opts(Conf, Opts0) ->
-    Opts1 = override_start_after_created(Conf, Opts0),
-    set_no_buffer_workers(Opts1).
+    Opts1 = emqx_resource:fetch_creation_opts(Conf),
+    Opts2 = maps:merge(Opts1, Opts0),
+    Opts = override_start_after_created(Conf, Opts2),
+    set_no_buffer_workers(Opts).
 
 override_start_after_created(Config, Opts) ->
     Enabled = maps:get(enable, Config, true),
diff --git a/apps/emqx_connector/test/emqx_connector_jwt_SUITE.erl b/apps/emqx_connector/test/emqx_connector_jwt_SUITE.erl
index 6469614f8..aef0e660c 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_connector/test/emqx_connector_jwt_SUITE.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_connector/test/emqx_connector_jwt_SUITE.erl
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ t_ensure_jwt(_Config) ->
             JWT0 = emqx_connector_jwt:ensure_jwt(JWTConfig),
             ?assertNot(is_expired(JWT0)),
             %% should refresh 5 s before expiration
-            ct:sleep(Expiration - 5500),
+            ct:sleep(Expiration - 3000),
             JWT1 = emqx_connector_jwt:ensure_jwt(JWTConfig),
             ?assertNot(is_expired(JWT1)),
             %% fully expired
diff --git a/changes/ce/fix-13503.en.md b/changes/ce/fix-13503.en.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a4f0eb811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/ce/fix-13503.en.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed an issue where a connector wouldn't respect the configured health check interval when first starting up, and would need an update/restart for the correct value to take effect.