diff --git a/internal/kstatus/watcher/object_status_reporter.go b/internal/kstatus/watcher/object_status_reporter.go
index c4ef2b27..3f66d1d7 100644
--- a/internal/kstatus/watcher/object_status_reporter.go
+++ b/internal/kstatus/watcher/object_status_reporter.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
@@ -133,6 +134,7 @@ type ObjectStatusReporter struct {
 
 	started bool
 	stopped bool
+	name    string
 }
 
 func (in *ObjectStatusReporter) Start(ctx context.Context) <-chan event.Event {
@@ -284,6 +286,11 @@ func (in *ObjectStatusReporter) stopInformer(gkn GroupKindNamespace) {
 	in.watcherRefs[gkn].Stop()
 }
 
+// restartInformer the informer watching the specified GroupKindNamespace.
+func (in *ObjectStatusReporter) restartInformer(gkn GroupKindNamespace) {
+	in.watcherRefs[gkn].Restart()
+}
+
 func (in *ObjectStatusReporter) startInformerWithRetry(ctx context.Context, gkn GroupKindNamespace) {
 	realClock := &clock.RealClock{}
 	// TODO nolint can be removed once https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/118638 is resolved
@@ -297,13 +304,18 @@ func (in *ObjectStatusReporter) startInformerWithRetry(ctx context.Context, gkn
 		)
 		if err != nil {
 			if meta.IsNoMatchError(err) {
-				// CRD (or api extension) not installed
-				// TODO: retry if CRDs are not being watched
-				klog.V(3).Infof("Watch start error (blocking until CRD is added): %v: %v", gkn, err)
+				klog.V(3).Infof("Watch start error: %v: %v", gkn, err)
 				// Cancel the parent context, which will stop the retries too.
 				in.stopInformer(gkn)
 				return
 			}
+			if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+				// CRD (or api extension) not installed
+				klog.V(3).Infof("Watch start error (blocking until CRD is added): %v: %v", gkn, err)
+				// doesn't cancel the parent context, which will not stop the retries too.
+				in.restartInformer(gkn)
+				return
+			}
 
 			// Create a temporary input channel to send the error event.
 			eventCh := make(chan event.Event)
diff --git a/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher.go b/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher.go
index 8164a24e..483fd3f6 100644
--- a/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher.go
+++ b/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type DynamicStatusWatcher struct {
 
 	// informerRefs tracks which informers have been started and stopped by the ObjectStatusReporter
 	informerRefs map[GroupKindNamespace]*watcherReference
+	name         string
 }
 
 func (in *DynamicStatusWatcher) Watch(ctx context.Context, ids object.ObjMetadataSet, opts kwatcher.Options) <-chan event.Event {
@@ -76,12 +77,13 @@ func (in *DynamicStatusWatcher) Watch(ctx context.Context, ids object.ObjMetadat
 		LabelSelector: labelSelector,
 		DynamicClient: in.DynamicClient,
 		watcherRefs:   in.informerRefs,
+		name:          in.name,
 	}
 
 	return informer.Start(ctx)
 }
 
-func NewDynamicStatusWatcher(dynamicClient dynamic.Interface, mapper meta.RESTMapper, options Options) kwatcher.StatusWatcher {
+func NewDynamicStatusWatcher(dynamicClient dynamic.Interface, mapper meta.RESTMapper, options Options, name string) kwatcher.StatusWatcher {
 	var informerRefs map[GroupKindNamespace]*watcherReference
 	if options.UseInformerRefCache {
 		informerRefs = make(map[GroupKindNamespace]*watcherReference)
@@ -95,5 +97,6 @@ func NewDynamicStatusWatcher(dynamicClient dynamic.Interface, mapper meta.RESTMa
 		// Custom options
 		Options:      options,
 		informerRefs: informerRefs,
+		name:         name,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher_reference.go b/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher_reference.go
index 34ec6848..2291da47 100644
--- a/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher_reference.go
+++ b/internal/kstatus/watcher/watcher_reference.go
@@ -82,3 +82,20 @@ func (ir *watcherReference) Stop() {
 	ir.started = false
 	ir.context = nil
 }
+
+// Restart ...
+func (ir *watcherReference) Restart() {
+	ir.lock.Lock()
+	defer ir.lock.Unlock()
+
+	if !ir.started {
+		return
+	}
+
+	if ir.watcher != nil {
+		ir.watcher.Stop()
+	}
+
+	ir.started = false
+	ir.context = nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/applier/builder.go b/pkg/applier/builder.go
index bd7b280f..02beb30c 100644
--- a/pkg/applier/builder.go
+++ b/pkg/applier/builder.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func (cb *commonBuilder) finalize() (*commonBuilder, error) {
 				Labels: common.ManagedByAgentLabelSelector(),
 				Fields: nil,
 			},
-		})
+		}, "applier")
 	}
 	return &cx, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cache/resource_cache.go b/pkg/cache/resource_cache.go
index ee0b9520..ea44ea3e 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/resource_cache.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/resource_cache.go
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func Init(ctx context.Context, config *rest.Config, ttl time.Duration) {
 			Labels: common.ManagedByAgentLabelSelector(),
 			Fields: nil,
 		},
-	})
+	}, "resourceCache")
 
 	resourceCache = &ResourceCache{
 		ctx:            ctx,