diff --git a/IM/InfrastructureManager.py b/IM/InfrastructureManager.py
index acba6ac59..c0eac8452 100644
--- a/IM/InfrastructureManager.py
+++ b/IM/InfrastructureManager.py
@@ -512,6 +512,8 @@ def AddResource(inf_id, radl_data, auth, context=True):
                 sel_inf.update_radl(radl, [])
                 InfrastructureManager.logger.warn("Inf ID: " + sel_inf.id + ": without any deploy. Exiting.")
                 sel_inf.add_cont_msg("Infrastructure without any deploy. Exiting.")
+                if sel_inf.configured is None:
+                    sel_inf.configured = False
                 return []
         except Exception as ex:
             sel_inf.configured = False
@@ -570,6 +572,8 @@ def AddResource(inf_id, radl_data, auth, context=True):
             if not deploy_group:
                 InfrastructureManager.logger.warning("Inf ID: %s: No VMs to deploy!" % sel_inf.id)
                 sel_inf.add_cont_msg("No VMs to deploy. Exiting.")
+                if sel_inf.configured is None:
+                    sel_inf.configured = False
                 return []
 
             cloud_id = deploys_group_cloud[id(deploy_group)]
@@ -901,14 +905,15 @@ def GetInfrastructureState(inf_id, auth):
 
         sel_inf = InfrastructureManager.get_infrastructure(inf_id, auth)
 
+        vm_list = sel_inf.get_vm_list()
         vm_states = {}
-        for vm in sel_inf.get_vm_list():
+        for vm in vm_list:
             # First try to update the status of the VM
             vm.update_status(auth)
             vm_states[str(vm.im_id)] = vm.state
 
         state = None
-        for vm in sel_inf.get_vm_list():
+        for vm in vm_list:
             # First try to update the status of the VM
             if vm.state == VirtualMachine.FAILED:
                 state = VirtualMachine.FAILED
@@ -937,6 +942,9 @@ def GetInfrastructureState(inf_id, auth):
         if state is None:
             if sel_inf.configured is False:
                 state = VirtualMachine.FAILED
+            elif not vm_list and sel_inf.configured is None:
+                # if there are no vms we probably are in the vm creation process
+                state = VirtualMachine.PENDING
             else:
                 state = VirtualMachine.UNKNOWN
 
diff --git a/IM/VirtualMachine.py b/IM/VirtualMachine.py
index 4476cfea2..c9a18a2d0 100644
--- a/IM/VirtualMachine.py
+++ b/IM/VirtualMachine.py
@@ -505,24 +505,25 @@ def update_status(self, auth, force=False):
             updated = False
             # To avoid to refresh the information too quickly
             if force or now - self.last_update > Config.VM_INFO_UPDATE_FREQUENCY:
+                success = False
                 try:
                     (success, new_vm) = self.getCloudConnector().updateVMInfo(self, auth)
                     if success:
                         state = new_vm.state
                         updated = True
                         self.last_update = now
-                    elif self.creating:
-                        self.log_info("VM is in creation process, set pending state")
-                        state = VirtualMachine.PENDING
                     else:
                         self.log_error("Error updating VM status: %s" % new_vm)
-                except:
+                except Exception:
                     self.log_exception("Error updating VM status.")
-                    updated = False
+
+                if not success and self.creating:
+                    self.log_info("VM is in creation process, set pending state")
+                    state = VirtualMachine.PENDING
 
             # If we have problems to update the VM info too much time, set to
-            # unknown
-            if now - self.last_update > Config.VM_INFO_UPDATE_ERROR_GRACE_PERIOD:
+            # unknown unless we are still creating the VM
+            if now - self.last_update > Config.VM_INFO_UPDATE_ERROR_GRACE_PERIOD and not self.creating:
                 new_state = VirtualMachine.UNKNOWN
                 self.log_warn("Grace period to update VM info passed. Set state to 'unknown'")
             else: