diff --git a/pkg/cluster/pod.go b/pkg/cluster/pod.go
index c99c1c322..6658ba414 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/pod.go
@@ -376,9 +376,15 @@ func (c *Cluster) getPatroniMemberData(pod *v1.Pod) (patroni.MemberData, error)
 	return memberData, nil
 }
 
-// podIsNotRunning returns true if a pod is not in a healthy running state,
+// podIsNotRunning returns true if a pod is known to be in a non-running state,
 // e.g. stuck in CreateContainerConfigError, CrashLoopBackOff, ImagePullBackOff, etc.
+// Pods with no status information are not considered non-running, as they may
+// simply not have reported status yet.
 func podIsNotRunning(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
+	if pod.Status.Phase == "" {
+		// No status reported yet — don't treat as non-running
+		return false
+	}
 	if pod.Status.Phase != v1.PodRunning {
 		return true
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/pod_test.go b/pkg/cluster/pod_test.go
index 18bfbc863..6ab3f9207 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/pod_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/pod_test.go
@@ -120,6 +120,13 @@ func TestPodIsNotRunning(t *testing.T) {
 		pod      v1.Pod
 		expected bool
 	}{
+		{
+			subtest: "pod with no status reported yet",
+			pod: v1.Pod{
+				Status: v1.PodStatus{},
+			},
+			expected: false,
+		},
 		{
 			subtest: "pod running with all containers ready",
 			pod: v1.Pod{
@@ -382,6 +389,18 @@ func TestAllPodsRunning(t *testing.T) {
 			pods:     []v1.Pod{},
 			expected: true,
 		},
+		{
+			subtest: "pods with no status reported yet",
+			pods: []v1.Pod{
+				{
+					Status: v1.PodStatus{},
+				},
+				{
+					Status: v1.PodStatus{},
+				},
+			},
+			expected: true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {