diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
index 8009b58458..fc0e06bb7e 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
@@ -42,6 +42,14 @@ func CreateEngine(
 	*engine.Engine,
 	error,
 ) {
+	hasNodes, err := kubernetesManager.HasComputeNodes(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred while verifying whether the Kubernetes cluster has any compute nodes")
+	}
+	if !hasNodes {
+		return nil, stacktrace.NewError("Can't start engine on the Kubernetes cluster as it has no compute nodes")
+	}
+
 	engineGuidStr, err := uuid_generator.GenerateUUIDString()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred generating a UUID string for the engine")
diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_manager/kubernetes_manager.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_manager/kubernetes_manager.go
index e4ff86c01e..231c0b6340 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_manager/kubernetes_manager.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/kubernetes/kubernetes_manager/kubernetes_manager.go
@@ -122,6 +122,22 @@ var (
 		},
 		ResourceVersion: "",
 	}
+	globalListOptions = metav1.ListOptions{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       "",
+			APIVersion: "",
+		},
+		LabelSelector:        "",
+		FieldSelector:        "",
+		Watch:                false,
+		AllowWatchBookmarks:  false,
+		ResourceVersion:      "",
+		ResourceVersionMatch: "",
+		TimeoutSeconds:       nil,
+		Limit:                0,
+		Continue:             "",
+		SendInitialEvents:    nil,
+	}
 )
 
 type KubernetesManager struct {
@@ -1729,6 +1745,14 @@ func (manager *KubernetesManager) GetExecStream(ctx context.Context, pod *apiv1.
 		})
 }
 
+func (manager *KubernetesManager) HasComputeNodes(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
+	nodes, err := manager.kubernetesClientSet.CoreV1().Nodes().List(ctx, globalListOptions)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred while checking if the Kubernetes cluster has any nodes")
+	}
+	return len(nodes.Items) != 0, nil
+}
+
 // TODO Delete this after 2022-08-01 if we're not using Jobs
 /*
 func (manager *KubernetesManager) CreateJobWithContainerAndVolume(ctx context.Context,