diff --git a/pkg/providers/v1/aws.go b/pkg/providers/v1/aws.go
index 412d21538c..13e244c6fd 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/v1/aws.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/v1/aws.go
@@ -391,7 +391,8 @@ type Cloud struct {
 
 	nodeInformer informercorev1.NodeInformer
 	// Extract the function out to make it easier to test
-	nodeInformerHasSynced cache.InformerSynced
+	nodeInformerHasSynced              cache.InformerSynced
+	nodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod time.Duration
 
 	eventBroadcaster record.EventBroadcaster
 	eventRecorder    record.EventRecorder
@@ -610,13 +611,14 @@ func newAWSCloud2(cfg config.CloudConfig, awsServices Services, provider config.
 	}
 
 	awsCloud := &Cloud{
-		ec2:      ec2,
-		elb:      elb,
-		elbv2:    elbv2,
-		metadata: metadata,
-		kms:      kms,
-		cfg:      &cfg,
-		region:   regionName,
+		ec2:                                ec2,
+		elb:                                elb,
+		elbv2:                              elbv2,
+		metadata:                           metadata,
+		kms:                                kms,
+		cfg:                                &cfg,
+		region:                             regionName,
+		nodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod: cfg.Global.NodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod,
 	}
 	awsCloud.instanceCache.cloud = awsCloud
 	awsCloud.zoneCache.cloud = awsCloud
@@ -879,9 +881,26 @@ func (c *Cloud) NodeAddressesByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID string
 	return addresses, nil
 }
 
-// InstanceExistsByProviderID returns true if the instance with the given provider id still exists.
+// InstanceExistsByProviderID implements Instances.InstanceExistsByProviderID (v1)
+// returns true if the instance with the given provider id still exists.
 // If false is returned with no error, the instance will be immediately deleted by the cloud controller manager.
 func (c *Cloud) InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID string) (bool, error) {
+	exists, err := c.instanceExistsByProviderID(ctx, providerID)
+	if err != nil {
+		if IsAWSErrorInstanceNotFound(err) {
+			// we have to assume this means the instance was terminated a while ago
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return exists, nil
+}
+
+// instanceExistsByProviderID returns true if the instance with the given provider id still exists.
+// If error InvalidInstanceId.NotFound is returned, the caller should decide how to handle this. It could mean:
+// a. the instance was launched recently and isn't found in the API due to eventual-consistency
+// b. the instance was terminated a while ago, and no longer appears in the API with "terminated" status
+func (c *Cloud) instanceExistsByProviderID(_ context.Context, providerID string) (bool, error) {
 	instanceID, err := KubernetesInstanceID(providerID).MapToAWSInstanceID()
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
@@ -897,10 +916,6 @@ func (c *Cloud) InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID strin
 
 	instances, err := c.ec2.DescribeInstances(request)
 	if err != nil {
-		// if err is InstanceNotFound, return false with no error
-		if IsAWSErrorInstanceNotFound(err) {
-			return false, nil
-		}
 		return false, err
 	}
 	if len(instances) == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/providers/v1/config/config.go b/pkg/providers/v1/config/config.go
index ef6e371115..7a3764c0c4 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/v1/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/v1/config/config.go
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/endpoints"
 
@@ -62,6 +64,11 @@ type CloudConfig struct {
 
 		// NodeIPFamilies determines which IP addresses are added to node objects and their ordering.
 		NodeIPFamilies []string
+
+		// NodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod is used to account for propogation delays in the EC2 API.
+		// An instance may not appear in `ec2:DescribeInstances` output for a period of time after launch.
+		// The cloud-node-lifecycle-controller must not delete the Node prematurely in this case.
+		NodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod time.Duration
 	}
 	// [ServiceOverride "1"]
 	//  Service = s3
diff --git a/pkg/providers/v1/instances_v2.go b/pkg/providers/v1/instances_v2.go
index 8dbd7649ba..5c49a829da 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/v1/instances_v2.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/v1/instances_v2.go
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ package aws
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
+	"time"
 
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
@@ -51,7 +53,20 @@ func (c *Cloud) InstanceExists(ctx context.Context, node *v1.Node) (bool, error)
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	return c.InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx, providerID)
+	exists, err := c.instanceExistsByProviderID(ctx, providerID)
+	if err != nil {
+		if IsAWSErrorInstanceNotFound(err) {
+			if time.Since(node.CreationTimestamp.Time) < c.nodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod {
+				// recently-launched EC2 instances may not appear in `ec2:DescribeInstances`
+				// we return an error if we're within the eventual-consistency grace period
+				// e.g. to cause the cloud-node-lifecycle-controller to ignore this node
+				return false, fmt.Errorf("node is within eventual-consistency grace period (%v): %v", c.nodeEventualConsistencyGracePeriod, err)
+			}
+			return false, nil
+		}
+
+	}
+	return exists, nil
 }
 
 // InstanceShutdown returns true if the instance is shutdown according to the cloud provider.