diff --git a/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager.go b/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager.go
index d58654ffb..68be1a9db 100644
--- a/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager.go
+++ b/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager.go
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ func ApplyClusterManager(ctx context.Context, client splcommon.ControllerClient,
 	// check if deletion has been requested
 	if cr.ObjectMeta.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
 		if cr.Spec.MonitoringConsoleRef.Name != "" {
-			extraEnv, _ := VerifyCMisMultisiteCall(ctx, cr, namespaceScopedSecret)
+			extraEnv, _ := GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall(ctx, cr, namespaceScopedSecret)
 			_, err = ApplyMonitoringConsoleEnvConfigMap(ctx, client, cr.GetNamespace(), cr.GetName(), cr.Spec.MonitoringConsoleRef.Name, extraEnv, false)
 			if err != nil {
 				return result, err
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ func ApplyClusterManager(ctx context.Context, client splcommon.ControllerClient,
 	}
 
 	//make changes to respective mc configmap when changing/removing mcRef from spec
-	extraEnv, err := VerifyCMisMultisiteCall(ctx, cr, namespaceScopedSecret)
+	extraEnv, _ := GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall(ctx, cr, namespaceScopedSecret)
 	err = validateMonitoringConsoleRef(ctx, client, statefulSet, extraEnv)
 	if err != nil {
 		return result, err
@@ -445,23 +445,30 @@ func getClusterManagerList(ctx context.Context, c splcommon.ControllerClient, cr
 	return numOfObjects, nil
 }
 
-// VerifyCMisMultisite checks if its a multisite used also in mock
-var VerifyCMisMultisiteCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
-	var err error
+// GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall checks if cluster is multisite and returns appropriate environment variables
+// If it fails to connect to the cluster manager (e.g., pod not ready yet), it returns basic env vars as fallback
+// This function is used also in mock tests
+var GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
 	reqLogger := log.FromContext(ctx)
 	scopedLog := reqLogger.WithName("Verify if Multisite Indexer Cluster").WithValues("name", cr.GetName(), "namespace", cr.GetNamespace())
+
+	extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
+
 	mgr := clusterManagerPodManager{log: scopedLog, cr: cr, secrets: namespaceScopedSecret, newSplunkClient: splclient.NewSplunkClient}
 	cm := mgr.getClusterManagerClient(cr)
 	clusterInfo, err := cm.GetClusterInfo(false)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		scopedLog.Error(err, "Failed to get cluster info from cluster manager pod, using basic environment variables")
+		return extraEnv, err
 	}
-	multiSite := clusterInfo.MultiSite
-	extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
-	if multiSite == "true" {
-		extraEnv = append(extraEnv, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "SPLUNK_SITE", Value: "site0"}, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "SPLUNK_MULTISITE_MASTER", Value: GetSplunkServiceName(SplunkClusterManager, cr.GetName(), false)})
+
+	if clusterInfo.MultiSite == "true" {
+		extraEnv = append(extraEnv,
+			corev1.EnvVar{Name: "SPLUNK_SITE", Value: "site0"},
+			corev1.EnvVar{Name: "SPLUNK_MULTISITE_MASTER", Value: GetSplunkServiceName(SplunkClusterManager, cr.GetName(), false)})
 	}
-	return extraEnv, err
+
+	return extraEnv, nil
 }
 
 // changeClusterManagerAnnotations updates the splunk/image-tag field of the ClusterManager annotations to trigger the reconcile loop
diff --git a/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager_test.go b/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager_test.go
index 92eb22e7e..d1360ea8e 100644
--- a/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/splunk/enterprise/clustermanager_test.go
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ func TestApplyClusterManager(t *testing.T) {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
+		return extraEnv, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 	funcCalls := []spltest.MockFuncCall{
 		{MetaName: "*v1.Secret-test-splunk-test-secret"},
@@ -542,6 +547,12 @@ func TestClusterManagerSpecNotCreatedWithoutGeneralTerms(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestApplyClusterManagerWithSmartstore(t *testing.T) {
 	os.Setenv("SPLUNK_GENERAL_TERMS", "--accept-sgt-current-at-splunk-com")
+
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
+		return extraEnv, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 	funcCalls := []spltest.MockFuncCall{
 		{MetaName: "*v1.Secret-test-splunk-test-secret"},
@@ -874,6 +885,12 @@ func TestPushManagerAppsBundle(t *testing.T) {
 func TestAppFrameworkApplyClusterManagerShouldNotFail(t *testing.T) {
 	os.Setenv("SPLUNK_GENERAL_TERMS", "--accept-sgt-current-at-splunk-com")
 	initGlobalResourceTracker()
+
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
+		return extraEnv, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 	cm := enterpriseApi.ClusterManager{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -948,6 +965,12 @@ func TestAppFrameworkApplyClusterManagerShouldNotFail(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestApplyClusterManagerDeletion(t *testing.T) {
 	os.Setenv("SPLUNK_GENERAL_TERMS", "--accept-sgt-current-at-splunk-com")
+
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
+		return extraEnv, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 	cm := enterpriseApi.ClusterManager{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -1471,6 +1494,12 @@ func TestCheckIfsmartstoreConfigMapUpdatedToPod(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestIsClusterManagerReadyForUpgrade(t *testing.T) {
 	os.Setenv("SPLUNK_GENERAL_TERMS", "--accept-sgt-current-at-splunk-com")
+
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
+		return extraEnv, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 
 	sch := pkgruntime.NewScheme()
@@ -1678,7 +1707,7 @@ func TestChangeClusterManagerAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 		debug.PrintStack()
 	}
 
-	VerifyCMisMultisiteCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
 		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
 		return extraEnv, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/splunk/enterprise/upgrade_test.go b/pkg/splunk/enterprise/upgrade_test.go
index 00adac306..b501527fd 100644
--- a/pkg/splunk/enterprise/upgrade_test.go
+++ b/pkg/splunk/enterprise/upgrade_test.go
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ func TestUpgradePathValidation(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("shc is not in ready state")
 	}
 
-	VerifyCMisMultisiteCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
+	GetCMMultisiteEnvVarsCall = func(ctx context.Context, cr *enterpriseApi.ClusterManager, namespaceScopedSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]corev1.EnvVar, error) {
 		extraEnv := getClusterManagerExtraEnv(cr, &cr.Spec.CommonSplunkSpec)
 		return extraEnv, err
 	}