diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/cmd/main.go b/infra/feast-operator/cmd/main.go
index 0d833f1469b..b9aa273bef0 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/cmd/main.go
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/cmd/main.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"flag"
 	"os"
+	"time"
 
 	// Import all Kubernetes client auth plugins (e.g. Azure, GCP, OIDC, etc.)
 	// to ensure that exec-entrypoint and run can make use of them.
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ func main() {
 	var probeAddr string
 	var secureMetrics bool
 	var featureStoreMetrics bool
-	var tlsOpts []func(*tls.Config)
+	tlsOpts := make([]func(*tls.Config), 0, 2)
 	flag.StringVar(&metricsAddr, "metrics-bind-address", "0", "The address the metrics endpoint binds to. "+
 		"Use :8443 for HTTPS or :8080 for HTTP, or leave as 0 to disable the metrics service.")
 	flag.StringVar(&probeAddr, "health-probe-bind-address", ":8081", "The address the probe endpoint binds to.")
@@ -130,42 +131,41 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	bootstrapCtx, cancelBootstrap := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancelBootstrap()
+
 	tlsProfileFetched := false
-	tlsProfile, err := tlspkg.FetchAPIServerTLSProfile(context.Background(), bootstrapClient)
+	tlsProfile, err := tlspkg.FetchAPIServerTLSProfile(bootstrapCtx, bootstrapClient)
 	if err != nil {
 		switch {
 		case apimeta.IsNoMatchError(err):
-			setupLog.Info("TLS profile not available, using hardened defaults (non-OpenShift cluster)")
+			setupLog.Info("TLS profile not available, using Intermediate defaults (non-OpenShift cluster)")
 		case apierrors.IsNotFound(err):
-			setupLog.Info("APIServer resource not found, using hardened defaults")
+			setupLog.Info("APIServer resource not found, using Intermediate defaults")
+		case apierrors.IsServiceUnavailable(err),
+			apierrors.IsTimeout(err),
+			apierrors.IsTooManyRequests(err):
+			setupLog.Info("Transient API error reading TLS profile, using Intermediate defaults", "error", err)
+			tlsProfileFetched = true // watcher self-heals when the API recovers
 		default:
 			setupLog.Error(err, "unable to read APIServer TLS profile, refusing to start with unknown TLS posture")
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
+		tlsProfile = *configv1.TLSProfiles[configv1.TLSProfileIntermediateType]
 	} else {
 		tlsProfileFetched = true
-		tlsConfigFn, unsupported := tlspkg.NewTLSConfigFromProfile(tlsProfile)
-		if len(unsupported) > 0 {
-			setupLog.Info("TLS profile contains ciphers unsupported by Go", "unsupported", unsupported)
-		}
-		tlsOpts = append(tlsOpts, tlsConfigFn)
 	}
+	tlsConfigFn, unsupported := tlspkg.NewTLSConfigFromProfile(tlsProfile)
+	if len(unsupported) > 0 {
+		setupLog.Info("TLS profile contains ciphers unsupported by Go", "unsupported", unsupported)
+	}
+	tlsOpts = append(tlsOpts, tlsConfigFn)
 
-	tlsAdherenceFetched := false
-	tlsAdherence, err := tlspkg.FetchAPIServerTLSAdherencePolicy(context.Background(), bootstrapClient)
+	tlsAdherence, err := tlspkg.FetchAPIServerTLSAdherencePolicy(bootstrapCtx, bootstrapClient)
 	if err != nil {
-		switch {
-		case apimeta.IsNoMatchError(err):
-			setupLog.Info("TLS adherence policy not available (non-OpenShift cluster)")
-		case apierrors.IsNotFound(err):
-			setupLog.Info("APIServer resource not found, skipping adherence policy")
-		default:
-			setupLog.Error(err, "unable to read APIServer TLS adherence policy, refusing to start")
-			os.Exit(1)
-		}
-	} else {
-		tlsAdherenceFetched = true
+		setupLog.Info("unable to fetch TLS adherence policy, watcher will retry", "error", err)
 	}
+	tlsAdherenceFetched := true
 
 	tlsOpts = append(tlsOpts, func(c *tls.Config) {
 		c.NextProtos = []string{"h2", "http/1.1"}