diff --git a/pkg/controllers/controllers.go b/pkg/controllers/controllers.go
index 350a1cc7b484..2514ebee5aed 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/controllers.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/controllers.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func NewControllers(
 		ssminvalidation.NewController(ssmCache, amiProvider),
 		status.NewController[*v1.EC2NodeClass](kubeClient, mgr.GetEventRecorderFor("karpenter"), status.EmitDeprecatedMetrics),
 		opevents.NewController[*corev1.Node](kubeClient, clk),
-		controllersversion.NewController(versionProvider),
+		controllersversion.NewController(versionProvider, versionProvider.UpdateVersionWithValidation),
 	}
 	if options.FromContext(ctx).InterruptionQueue != "" {
 		sqsapi := servicesqs.NewFromConfig(cfg)
diff --git a/pkg/controllers/providers/version/controller.go b/pkg/controllers/providers/version/controller.go
index 711d4c759c24..57fcaab31245 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/providers/version/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/providers/version/controller.go
@@ -28,20 +28,24 @@ import (
 	"github.com/aws/karpenter-provider-aws/pkg/providers/version"
 )
 
+type UpdateVersion func(context.Context) error
+
 type Controller struct {
 	versionProvider *version.DefaultProvider
+	updateVersion   UpdateVersion
 }
 
-func NewController(versionProvider *version.DefaultProvider) *Controller {
+func NewController(versionProvider *version.DefaultProvider, updateVersion UpdateVersion) *Controller {
 	return &Controller{
 		versionProvider: versionProvider,
+		updateVersion:   updateVersion,
 	}
 }
 
 func (c *Controller) Reconcile(ctx context.Context) (reconcile.Result, error) {
 	ctx = injection.WithControllerName(ctx, "providers.version")
 
-	if err := c.versionProvider.UpdateVersion(ctx); err != nil {
+	if err := c.updateVersion(ctx); err != nil {
 		return reconcile.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("updating version, %w", err)
 	}
 	return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: 5 * time.Minute}, nil
diff --git a/pkg/controllers/providers/version/suite_test.go b/pkg/controllers/providers/version/suite_test.go
index 59c0ddc62eae..005c45d6d8e4 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/providers/version/suite_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/providers/version/suite_test.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	ctx = options.ToContext(ctx, test.Options())
 	ctx, stop = context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	awsEnv = test.NewEnvironment(ctx, env)
-	controller = controllersversion.NewController(awsEnv.VersionProvider)
+	controller = controllersversion.NewController(awsEnv.VersionProvider, awsEnv.VersionProvider.UpdateVersionWithValidation)
 })
 
 var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
diff --git a/pkg/providers/version/suite_test.go b/pkg/providers/version/suite_test.go
index 0536e706ece5..29910f8e04e0 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/version/suite_test.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/version/suite_test.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	ctx, stop = context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	awsEnv = test.NewEnvironment(ctx, env)
 	testEnv = &environmentaws.Environment{Environment: &common.Environment{KubeClient: env.KubernetesInterface}}
-	versionController = controllersversion.NewController(awsEnv.VersionProvider)
+	versionController = controllersversion.NewController(awsEnv.VersionProvider, awsEnv.VersionProvider.UpdateVersionWithValidation)
 })
 
 var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
diff --git a/pkg/providers/version/version.go b/pkg/providers/version/version.go
index 9dbeaae0520d..eb0101e43446 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/version/version.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/version/version.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func (p *DefaultProvider) Get(ctx context.Context) string {
 }
 
 func (p *DefaultProvider) UpdateVersion(ctx context.Context) error {
-	var version, versionSource string
+	var version string
 	var err error
 
 	if options.FromContext(ctx).EKSControlPlane {
@@ -84,7 +84,15 @@ func (p *DefaultProvider) UpdateVersion(ctx context.Context) error {
 		}
 	}
 	p.version.Store(&version)
-	if p.cm.HasChanged("kubernetes-version", version) || p.cm.HasChanged("version-source", versionSource) {
+	return nil
+}
+func (p *DefaultProvider) UpdateVersionWithValidation(ctx context.Context) error {
+	err := p.UpdateVersion(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	version := p.Get(ctx)
+	if p.cm.HasChanged("kubernetes-version", version) {
 		log.FromContext(ctx).WithValues("version", version).V(1).Info("discovered kubernetes version")
 		if err := validateK8sVersion(version); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("validating kubernetes version, %w", err)