diff --git a/pkg/controller/node_test.go b/pkg/controller/node_test.go
index b9326d9ef..1e2252a05 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/node_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/node_test.go
@@ -1,11 +1,19 @@
 package controller
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/zalando/postgres-operator/v2/pkg/spec"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
+	k8stesting "k8s.io/client-go/testing"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -93,3 +101,33 @@ func TestNodeIsReady(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// TestMoveMasterPodsOffNodeRetriesOnError ensures a failed attempt to move
+// master pods off a node is retried rather than aborting the whole retry
+// loop on the first error.
+func TestMoveMasterPodsOffNodeRetriesOnError(t *testing.T) {
+	clientSet := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
+	clientSet.PrependReactor("list", "pods", func(action k8stesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+		return true, nil, fmt.Errorf("could not list pods")
+	})
+
+	controller := newNodeTestController()
+	controller.KubeClient.PodsGetter = clientSet.CoreV1()
+	// timeout == the retry interval hardcoded in moveMasterPodsOffNode, so
+	// the single retry attempt resolves synchronously without a real sleep.
+	controller.opConfig.MasterPodMoveTimeout = &metav1.Duration{Duration: 1 * time.Minute}
+
+	var logOutput bytes.Buffer
+	logger := logrus.New()
+	logger.SetOutput(&logOutput)
+	controller.logger = logger.WithField("pkg", "controller")
+
+	controller.moveMasterPodsOffNode(makeNode(map[string]string{}, false))
+
+	if logOutput.Len() == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("expected moveMasterPodsOffNode to log a warning")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(logOutput.String(), "still failing after") {
+		t.Errorf("expected the retry loop to run out of attempts instead of aborting on the first error, got log output: %q", logOutput.String())
+	}
+}