diff --git a/cns/service/main.go b/cns/service/main.go
index f74e816f74..26ce881d97 100644
--- a/cns/service/main.go
+++ b/cns/service/main.go
@@ -857,10 +857,21 @@ func reconcileInitialCNSState(ctx context.Context, cli nodeNetworkConfigGetter,
 
 	// Convert to CreateNetworkContainerRequest
 	for i := range nnc.Status.NetworkContainers {
-		ncRequest, err := kubecontroller.CreateNCRequestFromDynamicNC(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i])
+		var ncRequest *cns.CreateNetworkContainerRequest
+		var err error
+
+		switch nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode { //nolint:exhaustive // skipping dynamic case
+		case v1alpha.Static:
+			ncRequest, err = kubecontroller.CreateNCRequestFromStaticNC(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i])
+		default: // For backward compatibility, default will be treated as Dynamic too.
+			ncRequest, err = kubecontroller.CreateNCRequestFromDynamicNC(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i])
+		}
+
 		if err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to convert NNC status to network container request")
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to convert NNC status to network container request, "+
+				"assignmentMode: %s", nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode)
 		}
+
 		// rebuild CNS state
 		podInfoByIP, err := podInfoByIPProvider.PodInfoByIP()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -949,23 +960,33 @@ func InitializeCRDState(ctx context.Context, httpRestService cns.HTTPService, cn
 	httpRestServiceImplementation.IPAMPoolMonitor = poolMonitor
 
 	// reconcile initial CNS state from CNI or apiserver.
-	// apiserver nnc might not be registered or api server might be down and crashloop backof puts us outside of 5-10 minutes we have for
-	// aks addons to come up so retry a bit more aggresively here.
-	// will retry 10 times maxing out at a minute taking about 8 minutes before it gives up.
-	attempt := 0
-	err = retry.Do(func() error {
-		attempt++
-		logger.Printf("reconciling initial CNS state attempt: %d", attempt)
-		err = reconcileInitialCNSState(ctx, scopedcli, httpRestServiceImplementation, podInfoByIPProvider)
+	// Only reconcile if there are any existing Pods using NC ips,
+	// else let the goal state be updated using a regular NNC Reconciler loop
+	podInfoByIP, err := podInfoByIPProvider.PodInfoByIP()
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to provide PodInfoByIP")
+	}
+	if len(podInfoByIP) > 0 {
+		logger.Printf("Reconciling initial CNS state as PodInfoByIP is not empty: %d", len(podInfoByIP))
+
+		// apiserver nnc might not be registered or api server might be down and crashloop backof puts us outside of 5-10 minutes we have for
+		// aks addons to come up so retry a bit more aggresively here.
+		// will retry 10 times maxing out at a minute taking about 8 minutes before it gives up.
+		attempt := 0
+		err = retry.Do(func() error {
+			attempt++
+			logger.Printf("reconciling initial CNS state attempt: %d", attempt)
+			err = reconcileInitialCNSState(ctx, scopedcli, httpRestServiceImplementation, podInfoByIPProvider)
+			if err != nil {
+				logger.Errorf("failed to reconcile initial CNS state, attempt: %d err: %v", attempt, err)
+			}
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to initialize CNS state")
+		}, retry.Context(ctx), retry.Delay(initCNSInitalDelay), retry.MaxDelay(time.Minute))
 		if err != nil {
-			logger.Errorf("failed to reconcile initial CNS state, attempt: %d err: %v", attempt, err)
+			return err
 		}
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to initialize CNS state")
-	}, retry.Context(ctx), retry.Delay(initCNSInitalDelay), retry.MaxDelay(time.Minute))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		logger.Printf("reconciled initial CNS state after %d attempts", attempt)
 	}
-	logger.Printf("reconciled initial CNS state after %d attempts", attempt)
 
 	// start the pool Monitor before the Reconciler, since it needs to be ready to receive an
 	// NodeNetworkConfig update by the time the Reconciler tries to send it.
diff --git a/cns/singletenantcontroller/reconciler.go b/cns/singletenantcontroller/reconciler.go
index 7ebbbdb308..92cfa9082c 100644
--- a/cns/singletenantcontroller/reconciler.go
+++ b/cns/singletenantcontroller/reconciler.go
@@ -81,20 +81,23 @@ func (r *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req reconcile.Request) (reco
 	for i := range nnc.Status.NetworkContainers {
 		var req *cns.CreateNetworkContainerRequest
 		var err error
-		switch nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode {
-		case v1alpha.Dynamic:
+		switch nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode { //nolint:exhaustive // skipping dynamic case
+		case v1alpha.Static:
+			req, err = CreateNCRequestFromStaticNC(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i])
+		default: // For backward compatibility, default will be treated as Dynamic too.
 			req, err = CreateNCRequestFromDynamicNC(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i])
 			// in dynamic, we will also push this NNC to the IPAM Pool Monitor when we're done.
 			listenersToNotify = append(listenersToNotify, r.ipampoolmonitorcli)
-		case v1alpha.Static:
-			req, err = CreateNCRequestFromStaticNC(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i])
-		default:
-			// unrecognized mode, fail out
-			err = errors.Errorf("unknown NetworkContainer AssignmentMode %s", string(nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode))
+
 		}
+
 		if err != nil {
-			return reconcile.Result{}, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to generate CreateNCRequest from NC")
+			logger.Errorf("[cns-rc] failed to generate CreateNCRequest from NC: %v, assignmentMode %s", err,
+				nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode)
+			return reconcile.Result{}, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to generate CreateNCRequest from NC "+
+				"assignmentMode %s", nnc.Status.NetworkContainers[i].AssignmentMode)
 		}
+
 		responseCode := r.cnscli.CreateOrUpdateNetworkContainerInternal(req)
 		if err := restserver.ResponseCodeToError(responseCode); err != nil {
 			logger.Errorf("[cns-rc] Error creating or updating NC in reconcile: %v", err)
@@ -113,6 +116,7 @@ func (r *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req reconcile.Request) (reco
 	}
 
 	// we have received and pushed an NNC update, we are "Started"
+	logger.Printf("[cns-rc] CNS NNC Reconciler Started")
 	r.once.Do(func() { close(r.started) })
 	return reconcile.Result{}, nil
 }