diff --git a/pkg/crc/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/crc/cluster/cluster.go
index ad2201358a..990ae73c20 100644
--- a/pkg/crc/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/crc/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -510,3 +510,29 @@ func DeleteMCOLeaderLease(ctx context.Context, ocConfig oc.Config) error {
 	_, _, err := ocConfig.RunOcCommand("delete", "-A", "lease", "--all")
 	return err
 }
+
+func CheckCorePodsRunning(ctx context.Context, ocConfig oc.Config) error {
+	coreNameSpace := []string{"kube-system", "openshift-dns", "openshift-ingress", "openshift-ovn-kubernetes", "openshift-service-ca"}
+	waitForPods := func() error {
+		for _, namespace := range coreNameSpace {
+			if !podRunningForNamespace(ocConfig, namespace) {
+				logging.Debugf("Pods in %s namespace are not running", namespace)
+				return &errors.RetriableError{Err: fmt.Errorf("pods in %s namespace are not running", namespace)}
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	return errors.Retry(ctx, 2*time.Minute, waitForPods, 2*time.Second)
+}
+
+func podRunningForNamespace(ocConfig oc.Config, namespace string) bool {
+	stdin, stderr, err := ocConfig.WithFailFast().RunOcCommand("get", "pods", "-n", namespace, "--field-selector=status.phase!=Running")
+	if err != nil {
+		logging.Debugf("Failed to get pods in %s namespace, stderr: %s", namespace, stderr)
+		return false
+	}
+	if len(stdin) != 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/pkg/crc/machine/start.go b/pkg/crc/machine/start.go
index 967f0b2512..d349e9ed6f 100644
--- a/pkg/crc/machine/start.go
+++ b/pkg/crc/machine/start.go
@@ -1064,7 +1064,10 @@ func startMicroshift(ctx context.Context, sshRunner *crcssh.Runner, ocConfig oc.
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return cluster.WaitForAPIServer(ctx, ocConfig)
+	if err := cluster.WaitForAPIServer(ctx, ocConfig); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return cluster.CheckCorePodsRunning(ctx, ocConfig)
 }
 
 func ensurePullSecretPresentInVM(sshRunner *crcssh.Runner, pullSec cluster.PullSecretLoader) error {