diff --git a/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter.go b/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter.go
index 0926aaf7a6b..d958065b5cc 100644
--- a/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter.go
+++ b/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/juju/charm/v13"
 	"github.com/juju/clock"
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/juju/errors"
 	"github.com/juju/loggo/v2"
 	"github.com/juju/names/v5"
+	"github.com/juju/retry"
 
 	"github.com/juju/juju/apiserver/common"
 	"github.com/juju/juju/apiserver/common/cloudspec"
@@ -796,18 +798,46 @@ func (u *UniterAPI) CharmArchiveSha256(ctx context.Context, args params.CharmURL
 		Results: make([]params.StringResult, len(args.URLs)),
 	}
 	for i, arg := range args.URLs {
-		sch, err := u.st.Charm(arg.URL)
-		if errors.Is(err, errors.NotFound) {
-			err = apiservererrors.ErrPerm
-		}
-		if err == nil {
-			result.Results[i].Result = sch.BundleSha256()
+		sha, err := u.oneCharmArchiveSha256(ctx, arg.URL)
+		if err != nil {
+			result.Results[i].Error = apiservererrors.ServerError(err)
+			continue
 		}
-		result.Results[i].Error = apiservererrors.ServerError(err)
+		result.Results[i].Result = sha
+
 	}
 	return result, nil
 }
 
+func (u *UniterAPI) oneCharmArchiveSha256(ctx context.Context, curl string) (string, error) {
+	// The charm in state may only be a placeholder when this call is made.
+	// Ideally, the unit agent would not be started until the charm is fully available,
+	// but that's not currently the case and it doesn't hurt to be defensive here regardless.
+	// We'll retry the sha256 lookup if the charm is still pending and therefore not found.
+	var sha string
+	err := retry.Call(retry.CallArgs{
+		Func: func() error {
+			sch, err := u.st.Charm(curl)
+			if err != nil {
+				return errors.Trace(err)
+			}
+			sha = sch.BundleSha256()
+			return nil
+		},
+		IsFatalError: func(err error) bool {
+			return !errors.Is(err, errors.NotFound)
+		},
+		Stop:     ctx.Done(),
+		Delay:    3 * time.Second,
+		Attempts: 20,
+		Clock:    u.clock,
+	})
+	if errors.Is(err, errors.NotFound) {
+		return "", apiservererrors.ErrPerm
+	}
+	return sha, errors.Trace(err)
+}
+
 // Relation returns information about all given relation/unit pairs,
 // including their id, key and the local endpoint.
 func (u *UniterAPI) Relation(ctx context.Context, args params.RelationUnits) (params.RelationResults, error) {
diff --git a/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter_test.go b/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter_test.go
index 3701f78a5c5..15e701e349d 100644
--- a/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter_test.go
+++ b/apiserver/facades/agent/uniter/uniter_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/juju/juju/rpc/params"
 	"github.com/juju/juju/state"
 	statetesting "github.com/juju/juju/state/testing"
+	"github.com/juju/juju/testcharms"
 	coretesting "github.com/juju/juju/testing"
 	"github.com/juju/juju/testing/factory"
 )
@@ -1435,6 +1436,46 @@ func (s *uniterSuite) TestCharmArchiveSha256(c *gc.C) {
 	})
 }
 
+func (s *uniterSuite) TestCharmArchiveSha256Pending(c *gc.C) {
+	st := s.ControllerModel(c).State()
+
+	curl := charm.MustParseURL("ch:amd64/dummy-666")
+	err := st.AddCharmPlaceholder(curl)
+	c.Assert(err, jc.ErrorIsNil)
+
+	bundleSHA256 := fmt.Sprintf("%d", time.Now().Unix())
+	go func() {
+		// TODO - the base suite uses a state pool with a wallclock
+		// This is go away as an issue once we move off mongo.
+		// The first retry happens after 3 seconds so wait longer than that.
+		time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
+		ch := testcharms.Hub.CharmDir("dummy")
+		info := state.CharmInfo{
+			Charm:       ch,
+			ID:          curl.String(),
+			StoragePath: "fake-storage-path",
+			SHA256:      bundleSHA256,
+		}
+		_, err := st.AddCharm(info)
+		c.Assert(err, jc.ErrorIsNil)
+	}()
+
+	args := params.CharmURLs{URLs: []params.CharmURL{
+		{URL: "something-invalid"},
+		{URL: s.wpCharm.URL()},
+		{URL: curl.String()},
+	}}
+	result, err := s.uniter.CharmArchiveSha256(context.Background(), args)
+	c.Assert(err, jc.ErrorIsNil)
+	c.Assert(result, gc.DeepEquals, params.StringResults{
+		Results: []params.StringResult{
+			{Error: apiservertesting.ErrUnauthorized},
+			{Result: s.wpCharm.BundleSha256()},
+			{Result: bundleSHA256},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func (s *uniterSuite) TestCurrentModel(c *gc.C) {
 	model := s.ControllerModel(c)
 	result, err := s.uniter.CurrentModel(context.Background())