diff --git a/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go b/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go
index b80cbaa09..6de339062 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go
@@ -243,8 +243,22 @@ func (c *Cluster) majorVersionUpgrade() error {
 				if err = c.criticalOperationLabel(pods, nil); err != nil {
 					return fmt.Errorf("failed to remove critical-operation label: %s", err)
 				}
+				// Delete the critical-op PDB after the critical operation is complete
+				if err = c.deleteCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(); err != nil {
+					c.logger.Warningf("failed to delete critical-op PDB: %s", err)
+				}
 				return nil
 			}()
+
+			// Create the critical-op PDB before starting the critical operation.
+			// This ensures protection is in place immediately, rather than waiting
+			// for a sync cycle. The sync function also creates the PDB if it detects
+			// pods with the critical-operation label, serving as a safety net for
+			// edge cases like operator restarts during critical operations.
+			if err = c.createCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(); err != nil {
+				c.logger.Warningf("failed to create critical-op PDB: %s", err)
+			}
+
 			val := "true"
 			if err = c.criticalOperationLabel(pods, &val); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to assign critical-operation label: %s", err)
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/resources.go b/pkg/cluster/resources.go
index ed3eb3d75..0cee6960a 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/resources.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/resources.go
@@ -465,20 +465,13 @@ func (c *Cluster) createCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget() error {
 }
 
 func (c *Cluster) createPodDisruptionBudgets() error {
-	errors := make([]string, 0)
-
+	// Only create the primary PDB during cluster creation.
+	// The critical-op PDB is created on-demand during critical operations
+	// (e.g., major version upgrades) to avoid false alerts when no pods
+	// have the critical-operation label.
 	err := c.createPrimaryPodDisruptionBudget()
 	if err != nil {
-		errors = append(errors, fmt.Sprintf("could not create primary pod disruption budget: %v", err))
-	}
-
-	err = c.createCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget()
-	if err != nil {
-		errors = append(errors, fmt.Sprintf("could not create pod disruption budget for critical operations: %v", err))
-	}
-
-	if len(errors) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%v", strings.Join(errors, `', '`))
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not create primary pod disruption budget: %v", err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/sync.go b/pkg/cluster/sync.go
index ecf692702..5cb3ef555 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/sync.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/sync.go
@@ -499,7 +499,34 @@ func (c *Cluster) syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(isUpdate bool) error {
 		pdb *policyv1.PodDisruptionBudget
 		err error
 	)
-	if pdb, err = c.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(c.Namespace).Get(context.TODO(), c.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{}); err == nil {
+
+	// Check if any pods have the critical-operation label
+	hasCriticalOpPods, err := c.hasCriticalOperationPods()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not check for critical operation pods: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	pdb, err = c.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(c.Namespace).Get(context.TODO(), c.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})
+	pdbExists := err == nil
+
+	if !pdbExists && !k8sutil.ResourceNotFound(err) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not get pod disruption budget: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// If no pods have the critical-operation label, delete the PDB if it exists
+	if !hasCriticalOpPods {
+		if pdbExists {
+			c.CriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget = pdb
+			c.logger.Infof("no pods with critical-operation label, deleting critical-op PDB")
+			if err = c.deleteCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("could not delete pod disruption budget for critical operations: %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Pods have critical-operation label, ensure PDB exists
+	if pdbExists {
 		c.CriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget = pdb
 		newPDB := c.generateCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget()
 		match, reason := c.comparePodDisruptionBudget(pdb, newPDB)
@@ -512,13 +539,10 @@ func (c *Cluster) syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(isUpdate bool) error {
 			c.CriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget = pdb
 		}
 		return nil
+	}
 
-	}
-	if !k8sutil.ResourceNotFound(err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not get pod disruption budget: %v", err)
-	}
 	// no existing pod disruption budget, create new one
-	c.logger.Infof("could not find pod disruption budget for critical operations")
+	c.logger.Infof("pods with critical-operation label found, creating critical-op PDB")
 
 	if err = c.createCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(); err != nil {
 		if !k8sutil.ResourceAlreadyExists(err) {
@@ -533,6 +557,21 @@ func (c *Cluster) syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(isUpdate bool) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// hasCriticalOperationPods checks if any pods in the cluster have the critical-operation=true label
+func (c *Cluster) hasCriticalOperationPods() (bool, error) {
+	pods, err := c.listPods()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	for _, pod := range pods {
+		if val, ok := pod.Labels["critical-operation"]; ok && val == "true" {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return false, nil
+}
+
 func (c *Cluster) syncPodDisruptionBudgets(isUpdate bool) error {
 	errors := make([]string, 0)
 
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/sync_test.go b/pkg/cluster/sync_test.go
index 87e9dc8a5..90151ec4d 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/sync_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/sync_test.go
@@ -1018,3 +1018,134 @@ func TestUpdateSecretNameConflict(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedError := fmt.Sprintf("syncing secret %s failed: could not update secret because of user name mismatch", "default/prepared-owner-user.acid-test-cluster.credentials")
 	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), expectedError)
 }
+
+func TestSyncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(t *testing.T) {
+	testName := "test syncing critical-op PDB on-demand"
+	clusterName := "acid-test-cluster-pdb"
+	namespace := "default"
+
+	clientSet := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
+	acidClientSet := fakeacidv1.NewSimpleClientset()
+
+	client := k8sutil.KubernetesClient{
+		PodDisruptionBudgetsGetter: clientSet.PolicyV1(),
+		PodsGetter:                 clientSet.CoreV1(),
+		PostgresqlsGetter:          acidClientSet.AcidV1(),
+		StatefulSetsGetter:         clientSet.AppsV1(),
+	}
+
+	pg := acidv1.Postgresql{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      clusterName,
+			Namespace: namespace,
+		},
+		Spec: acidv1.PostgresSpec{
+			NumberOfInstances: 3,
+			Volume: acidv1.Volume{
+				Size: "1Gi",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	cluster := New(
+		Config{
+			OpConfig: config.Config{
+				PDBNameFormat:             "postgres-{cluster}-pdb",
+				EnablePodDisruptionBudget: util.True(),
+				Resources: config.Resources{
+					ClusterLabels:         map[string]string{"application": "spilo"},
+					ClusterNameLabel:      "cluster-name",
+					PodRoleLabel:          "spilo-role",
+					ResourceCheckInterval: time.Duration(3),
+					ResourceCheckTimeout:  time.Duration(10),
+				},
+			},
+		}, client, pg, logger, eventRecorder)
+
+	cluster.Name = clusterName
+	cluster.Namespace = namespace
+
+	// Create pods without critical-operation label
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		pod := v1.Pod{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", clusterName, i),
+				Namespace: namespace,
+				Labels: map[string]string{
+					"application":  "spilo",
+					"cluster-name": clusterName,
+				},
+			},
+		}
+		_, err := cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Create(context.TODO(), &pod, metav1.CreateOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	// Test 1: Sync with no critical-operation labels - PDB should NOT be created
+	err := cluster.syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	_, err = cluster.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), cluster.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})
+	assert.Error(t, err, "%s: critical-op PDB should not exist when no pods have critical-operation label", testName)
+
+	// Test 2: Add critical-operation label to pods - PDB should be created
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		pod, err := cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", clusterName, i), metav1.GetOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		pod.Labels["critical-operation"] = "true"
+		_, err = cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Update(context.TODO(), pod, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	err = cluster.syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	pdb, err := cluster.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), cluster.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "%s: critical-op PDB should exist when pods have critical-operation label", testName)
+	assert.Equal(t, int32(3), pdb.Spec.MinAvailable.IntVal, "%s: minAvailable should be 3", testName)
+
+	// Test 3: Remove critical-operation label from pods - PDB should be deleted
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		pod, err := cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", clusterName, i), metav1.GetOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		delete(pod.Labels, "critical-operation")
+		_, err = cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Update(context.TODO(), pod, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	err = cluster.syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	_, err = cluster.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), cluster.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})
+	assert.Error(t, err, "%s: critical-op PDB should be deleted when no pods have critical-operation label", testName)
+
+	// Test 4: Try to delete again when PDB is already deleted - should handle gracefully
+	err = cluster.syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "%s: syncing when PDB already deleted should not error", testName)
+
+	// Test 5: Try to create when PDB already exists - should handle gracefully
+	// First, add labels back to pods
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		pod, err := cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", clusterName, i), metav1.GetOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		pod.Labels["critical-operation"] = "true"
+		_, err = cluster.KubeClient.Pods(namespace).Update(context.TODO(), pod, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	// Create the PDB
+	err = cluster.syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = cluster.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), cluster.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "%s: PDB should exist after sync with labeled pods", testName)
+
+	// Now sync again - should handle "already exists" gracefully
+	cluster.CriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget = nil // Simulate operator restart (in-memory state lost)
+	err = cluster.syncCriticalOpPodDisruptionBudget(false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "%s: syncing when PDB already exists should not error", testName)
+
+	// Verify PDB still exists and is properly tracked
+	pdb, err = cluster.KubeClient.PodDisruptionBudgets(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), cluster.criticalOpPodDisruptionBudgetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, int32(3), pdb.Spec.MinAvailable.IntVal)
+}