diff --git a/controllers/humiocluster_controller.go b/controllers/humiocluster_controller.go
index 9a26d4e78..a82b076b0 100644
--- a/controllers/humiocluster_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/humiocluster_controller.go
@@ -1844,6 +1844,17 @@ func (r *HumioClusterReconciler) ensureMismatchedPodsAreDeleted(ctx context.Cont
 		}
 	}
 
+	// when no more changes are needed, update state to Running
+	if hnp.GetState() != humiov1alpha1.HumioClusterStateRunning &&
+		!podsStatus.waitingOnPods() &&
+		!desiredLifecycleState.FoundConfigurationDifference() &&
+		!desiredLifecycleState.FoundVersionDifference() {
+		r.Log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("updating cluster state as no difference was detected, updating from=%s to=%s", hnp.GetState(), humiov1alpha1.HumioClusterStateRunning))
+		_, err := r.updateStatus(ctx, r.Client.Status(), hc, statusOptions().
+			withNodePoolState(humiov1alpha1.HumioClusterStateRunning, hnp.GetNodePoolName(), hnp.GetDesiredPodRevision(), hnp.GetDesiredPodHash(), hnp.GetDesiredBootstrapTokenHash(), ""))
+		return reconcile.Result{Requeue: true}, err
+	}
+
 	// we expect an annotation for the bootstrap token to be present
 	desiredBootstrapTokenHash, found := desiredPod.Annotations[BootstrapTokenHashAnnotation]
 	if !found {
@@ -1880,17 +1891,6 @@ func (r *HumioClusterReconciler) ensureMismatchedPodsAreDeleted(ctx context.Cont
 		}
 	}
 
-	// when no more changes are needed, update state to Running
-	if hnp.GetState() != humiov1alpha1.HumioClusterStateRunning &&
-		!podsStatus.waitingOnPods() &&
-		!desiredLifecycleState.FoundConfigurationDifference() &&
-		!desiredLifecycleState.FoundVersionDifference() {
-		r.Log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("updating cluster state as no difference was detected, updating from=%s to=%s", hnp.GetState(), humiov1alpha1.HumioClusterStateRunning))
-		_, err := r.updateStatus(ctx, r.Client.Status(), hc, statusOptions().
-			withNodePoolState(humiov1alpha1.HumioClusterStateRunning, hnp.GetNodePoolName(), hnp.GetDesiredPodRevision(), hnp.GetDesiredPodHash(), hnp.GetDesiredBootstrapTokenHash(), ""))
-		return reconcile.Result{Requeue: true}, err
-	}
-
 	// delete evicted pods and pods attached using PVC's attached to worker nodes that no longer exists
 	if podsStatus.foundEvictedPodsOrPodsWithOrpahanedPVCs() {
 		r.Log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("found %d humio pods requiring deletion", len(podsStatus.podsEvictedOrUsesPVCAttachedToHostThatNoLongerExists)))