diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala
index 8df8e66912799..9fceca783ae0c 100644
--- a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala
@@ -300,6 +300,17 @@ private[spark] object Config extends Logging {
       .checkValue(value => value > 0, "Allocation batch delay must be a positive time value.")
       .createWithDefaultString("1s")
 
+  val KUBERNETES_ALLOCATION_DRIVER_READINESS_TIMEOUT =
+    ConfigBuilder("spark.kubernetes.allocation.driver.readinessTimeout")
+      .doc("Time to wait for driver pod to get ready before creating executor pods. This wait " +
+        "only happens on application start. If timeout happens, executor pods will still be " +
+        "created.")
+      .version("3.1.3")
+      .timeConf(TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+      .checkValue(value => value > 0, "Allocation driver readiness timeout must be a positive "
+        + "time value.")
+      .createWithDefaultString("1s")
+
   val KUBERNETES_ALLOCATION_EXECUTOR_TIMEOUT =
     ConfigBuilder("spark.kubernetes.allocation.executor.timeout")
       .doc("Time to wait before a newly created executor POD request, which does not reached " +
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocator.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocator.scala
index 3349e0c14771d..e8ca7ea873f6b 100644
--- a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocator.scala
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocator.scala
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.apache.spark.scheduler.cluster.k8s
 
 import java.time.Instant
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.{AtomicInteger, AtomicLong}
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
@@ -61,6 +62,8 @@ private[spark] class ExecutorPodsAllocator(
     podAllocationDelay * 5,
     conf.get(KUBERNETES_ALLOCATION_EXECUTOR_TIMEOUT))
 
+  private val driverPodReadinessTimeout = conf.get(KUBERNETES_ALLOCATION_DRIVER_READINESS_TIMEOUT)
+
   private val executorIdleTimeout = conf.get(DYN_ALLOCATION_EXECUTOR_IDLE_TIMEOUT) * 1000
 
   private val namespace = conf.get(KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE)
@@ -99,6 +102,14 @@ private[spark] class ExecutorPodsAllocator(
   @volatile private var deletedExecutorIds = Set.empty[Long]
 
   def start(applicationId: String, schedulerBackend: KubernetesClusterSchedulerBackend): Unit = {
+    // Wait until the driver pod is ready before starting executors, as the headless service won't
+    // be resolvable by DNS until the driver pod is ready.
+    Utils.tryLogNonFatalError {
+      kubernetesClient
+        .pods()
+        .withName(kubernetesDriverPodName.get)
+        .waitUntilReady(driverPodReadinessTimeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    }
     snapshotsStore.addSubscriber(podAllocationDelay) {
       onNewSnapshots(applicationId, schedulerBackend, _)
     }
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocatorSuite.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocatorSuite.scala
index 17bdb1d2bce7c..9a04d53b3d63d 100644
--- a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocatorSuite.scala
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/k8s/ExecutorPodsAllocatorSuite.scala
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ class ExecutorPodsAllocatorSuite extends SparkFunSuite with BeforeAndAfter {
     when(kubernetesClient.pods()).thenReturn(podOperations)
     when(podOperations.withName(driverPodName)).thenReturn(driverPodOperations)
     when(driverPodOperations.get).thenReturn(driverPod)
+    when(driverPodOperations.waitUntilReady(any(), any())).thenReturn(driverPod)
     when(executorBuilder.buildFromFeatures(any(classOf[KubernetesExecutorConf]), meq(secMgr),
       meq(kubernetesClient), any(classOf[ResourceProfile]))).thenAnswer(executorPodAnswer())
     snapshotsStore = new DeterministicExecutorPodsSnapshotsStore()