diff --git a/control-plane-operator/controllers/hostedcontrolplane/hostedcontrolplane_controller.go b/control-plane-operator/controllers/hostedcontrolplane/hostedcontrolplane_controller.go
index 4aae4b7625..87af26c928 100644
--- a/control-plane-operator/controllers/hostedcontrolplane/hostedcontrolplane_controller.go
+++ b/control-plane-operator/controllers/hostedcontrolplane/hostedcontrolplane_controller.go
@@ -949,6 +949,11 @@ func (r *HostedControlPlaneReconciler) update(ctx context.Context, hostedControl
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Get the latest HCP in memory before we patch the status
+	if err = r.Client.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(hostedControlPlane), hostedControlPlane); err != nil {
+		return reconcile.Result{}, err
+	}
+
 	originalHostedControlPlane := hostedControlPlane.DeepCopy()
 	missingImages := sets.New(releaseImageProvider.GetMissingImages()...).Insert(userReleaseImageProvider.GetMissingImages()...)
 	if missingImages.Len() == 0 {