diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/Controller.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/Controller.java
index bc2d3f9eec..a31c7f4fbf 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/Controller.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/Controller.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.reconciler.dependent.managed.DefaultManagedDependentResourceContext;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.health.ControllerHealthInfo;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.dependent.workflow.Workflow;
+import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.dependent.workflow.WorkflowBuilder;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.dependent.workflow.WorkflowCleanupResult;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.event.EventProcessor;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.event.EventSourceManager;
@@ -93,7 +94,11 @@ public Controller(Reconciler<P> reconciler,
     isCleaner = reconciler instanceof Cleaner;
 
     final var managed = configurationService.getWorkflowFactory().workflowFor(configuration);
-    managedWorkflow = managed.resolve(kubernetesClient, configuration);
+    // wrap original wrapper so that we can properly set the result in case it's throwing an
+    // exception
+    final Workflow workflow = managed.resolve(kubernetesClient, configuration);
+    managedWorkflow = WorkflowBuilder.from(workflow)
+        .withThrowExceptionFurther(false).build();
 
     eventSourceManager = new EventSourceManager<>(this);
     eventProcessor = new EventProcessor<>(eventSourceManager, configurationService);
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/dependent/workflow/WorkflowBuilder.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/dependent/workflow/WorkflowBuilder.java
index d65e21659c..8e92fababc 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/dependent/workflow/WorkflowBuilder.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/dependent/workflow/WorkflowBuilder.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.reconciler.dependent.DependentResource;
@@ -14,11 +15,21 @@
 @SuppressWarnings({"rawtypes", "unchecked"})
 public class WorkflowBuilder<P extends HasMetadata> {
 
-  private final Map<String, DependentResourceNode<?, P>> dependentResourceNodes =
-      new HashMap<>();
-  private boolean throwExceptionAutomatically = THROW_EXCEPTION_AUTOMATICALLY_DEFAULT;
+  private final Map<String, DependentResourceNode<?, P>> dependentResourceNodes;
+  private boolean throwExceptionAutomatically;
   private DependentResourceNode currentNode;
-  private boolean isCleaner = false;
+  private boolean isCleaner;
+
+  public WorkflowBuilder() {
+    this(new HashMap<>(), THROW_EXCEPTION_AUTOMATICALLY_DEFAULT, false);
+  }
+
+  private WorkflowBuilder(Map<String, DependentResourceNode<?, P>> dependentResourceNodes,
+      boolean throwExceptionAutomatically, boolean isCleaner) {
+    this.dependentResourceNodes = dependentResourceNodes;
+    this.throwExceptionAutomatically = throwExceptionAutomatically;
+    this.isCleaner = isCleaner;
+  }
 
   public WorkflowBuilder<P> addDependentResource(DependentResource dependentResource) {
     return addDependentResource(dependentResource, null);
@@ -91,4 +102,12 @@ public Workflow<P> build() {
     return new DefaultWorkflow(new HashSet<>(dependentResourceNodes.values()),
         throwExceptionAutomatically, isCleaner);
   }
+
+  public static <P extends HasMetadata> WorkflowBuilder<P> from(Workflow<P> workflow) {
+    final Map<String, DependentResourceNode<?, P>> nodes =
+        workflow.getDependentResourcesByName().entrySet().stream()
+            .collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getKey,
+                e -> new DependentResourceNode(e.getKey(), e.getValue())));
+    return new WorkflowBuilder<>(nodes, false, workflow.hasCleaner());
+  }
 }