diff --git a/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent.go b/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent.go
index b449a91f4..755a56d85 100644
--- a/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent.go
+++ b/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent.go
@@ -82,13 +82,17 @@ func KbClientIsRunningInNode(ctx context.Context, namespace string, nodeName str
 }
 
 // IsReady checks whether the node-agent daemonset has at least one ready pod
-// by inspecting the DaemonSet status.
+// by inspecting the DaemonSet status. Both the linux and windows daemonsets
+// are checked before returning any non-NotFound lookup error, so that a
+// transient error fetching one daemonset does not mask the other daemonset
+// being ready.
 func IsReady(ctx context.Context, namespace string, crClient ctrlclient.Client) error {
 	dsLinux := new(appsv1api.DaemonSet)
+	var lookupErr error
 	if err := crClient.Get(ctx, ctrlclient.ObjectKey{Namespace: namespace, Name: daemonSet}, dsLinux); err != nil {
 		dsLinux = nil
 		if !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get linux node-agent daemonset")
+			lookupErr = errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get linux node-agent daemonset")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -96,7 +100,9 @@ func IsReady(ctx context.Context, namespace string, crClient ctrlclient.Client)
 	if err := crClient.Get(ctx, ctrlclient.ObjectKey{Namespace: namespace, Name: daemonsetWindows}, dsWindows); err != nil {
 		dsWindows = nil
 		if !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get windows node-agent daemonset")
+			if lookupErr == nil {
+				lookupErr = errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get windows node-agent daemonset")
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -108,6 +114,10 @@ func IsReady(ctx context.Context, namespace string, crClient ctrlclient.Client)
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	if lookupErr != nil {
+		return lookupErr
+	}
+
 	return errors.New("node-agent is not ready: no ready pods found")
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent_test.go b/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent_test.go
index 9bba67ec4..24e1471d9 100644
--- a/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent_test.go
+++ b/pkg/nodeagent/node_agent_test.go
@@ -275,6 +275,52 @@ func TestIsReady(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			expectErr: "failed to get windows node-agent daemonset: fake-get-error",
 		},
+		{
+			name:      "linux daemonset get error but windows ready",
+			namespace: "fake-ns",
+			kubeClientObj: []runtime.Object{
+				dsWindowsReady,
+			},
+			interceptor: &interceptor.Funcs{
+				Get: func(ctx context.Context, c ctrlclient.WithWatch, key ctrlclient.ObjectKey, obj ctrlclient.Object, opts ...ctrlclient.GetOption) error {
+					if key.Name == "node-agent" {
+						return errors.New("fake-get-error")
+					}
+					return c.Get(ctx, key, obj, opts...)
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "windows daemonset get error but linux ready",
+			namespace: "fake-ns",
+			kubeClientObj: []runtime.Object{
+				dsLinuxReady,
+			},
+			interceptor: &interceptor.Funcs{
+				Get: func(ctx context.Context, c ctrlclient.WithWatch, key ctrlclient.ObjectKey, obj ctrlclient.Object, opts ...ctrlclient.GetOption) error {
+					if key.Name == "node-agent-windows" {
+						return errors.New("fake-get-error")
+					}
+					return c.Get(ctx, key, obj, opts...)
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "linux daemonset get error and windows not ready",
+			namespace: "fake-ns",
+			kubeClientObj: []runtime.Object{
+				dsWindowsNotReady,
+			},
+			interceptor: &interceptor.Funcs{
+				Get: func(ctx context.Context, c ctrlclient.WithWatch, key ctrlclient.ObjectKey, obj ctrlclient.Object, opts ...ctrlclient.GetOption) error {
+					if key.Name == "node-agent" {
+						return errors.New("fake-get-error")
+					}
+					return c.Get(ctx, key, obj, opts...)
+				},
+			},
+			expectErr: "failed to get linux node-agent daemonset: fake-get-error",
+		},
 		{
 			name:      "linux ds exist but no ready pods",
 			namespace: "fake-ns",