diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClient.java b/server/src/main/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClient.java
index 5ae6a95fa..533e41541 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClient.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClient.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import com.linbit.linstor.annotation.Nullable;
 
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.KubernetesResourceList;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.StatusDetails;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClientException;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.MixedOperation;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.Resource;
 
@@ -47,7 +49,29 @@ public List<T> list()
     @Override
     public T create(T item)
     {
-        T updated = client.create(item);
+        T updated;
+        try
+        {
+            updated = client.create(item);
+        }
+        catch (KubernetesClientException exc)
+        {
+            /*
+             * The HTTP client retries a POST after a 5xx or a dropped connection, so a create that the apiserver
+             * already persisted comes back as 409. Since we are the only writer, the existing object is ours.
+             */
+            if (exc.getCode() != HttpURLConnection.HTTP_CONFLICT)
+            {
+                throw exc;
+            }
+            T live = client.withName(item.getMetadata().getName()).get();
+            if (live == null)
+            {
+                throw exc;
+            }
+            item.getMetadata().setResourceVersion(live.getMetadata().getResourceVersion());
+            updated = client.replace(item);
+        }
         cache.put(updated.getMetadata().getName(), updated);
         return updated;
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClientTest.java b/src/test/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClientTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6eb20fd06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/linbit/linstor/dbdrivers/k8s/K8sCachingClientTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+package com.linbit.linstor.dbdrivers.k8s;
+
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ConfigMap;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ConfigMapBuilder;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ConfigMapList;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClientException;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.MixedOperation;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.Resource;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+public class K8sCachingClientTest
+{
+    private static final String NAME = "d5719b801db29e976a14ca6a354cc17460452b0b126b0630f12ef9e1aa22552a";
+
+    private MixedOperation<ConfigMap, ConfigMapList, Resource<ConfigMap>> client;
+    private Resource<ConfigMap> resource;
+    private K8sCachingClient<ConfigMap, ConfigMapList, Resource<ConfigMap>> cachingClient;
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        client = mock(MixedOperation.class);
+        resource = mock(Resource.class);
+        ConfigMapList emptyList = new ConfigMapList();
+        emptyList.setItems(Collections.emptyList());
+        when(client.list()).thenReturn(emptyList);
+        when(client.withName(NAME)).thenReturn(resource);
+        cachingClient = new K8sCachingClient<>(client);
+    }
+
+    private static ConfigMap item(String resourceVersion)
+    {
+        return new ConfigMapBuilder()
+            .withNewMetadata().withName(NAME).withResourceVersion(resourceVersion).endMetadata()
+            .addToData("value", "false")
+            .build();
+    }
+
+    private static KubernetesClientException httpError(int code)
+    {
+        return new KubernetesClientException("error " + code, code, null);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void createAdoptsObjectPersistedByRetriedRequest()
+    {
+        ConfigMap wanted = item(null);
+        ConfigMap replaced = item("43");
+        when(client.create(wanted)).thenThrow(httpError(HttpURLConnection.HTTP_CONFLICT));
+        when(resource.get()).thenReturn(item("42"));
+        when(client.replace(wanted)).thenReturn(replaced);
+
+        assertSame(replaced, cachingClient.create(wanted));
+        assertEquals("42", wanted.getMetadata().getResourceVersion());
+        assertSame(replaced, cachingClient.get(NAME));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void createRethrowsConflictWhenObjectIsGone()
+    {
+        ConfigMap wanted = item(null);
+        KubernetesClientException conflict = httpError(HttpURLConnection.HTTP_CONFLICT);
+        when(client.create(wanted)).thenThrow(conflict);
+        when(resource.get()).thenReturn(null);
+
+        try
+        {
+            cachingClient.create(wanted);
+            fail("expected the original conflict");
+        }
+        catch (KubernetesClientException exc)
+        {
+            assertSame(conflict, exc);
+        }
+        verify(client, never()).replace(any());
+        assertEquals(null, cachingClient.get(NAME));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void createRethrowsOtherErrorsUnchanged()
+    {
+        ConfigMap wanted = item(null);
+        KubernetesClientException serverError = httpError(HttpURLConnection.HTTP_INTERNAL_ERROR);
+        when(client.create(wanted)).thenThrow(serverError);
+
+        try
+        {
+            cachingClient.create(wanted);
+            fail("expected the original error");
+        }
+        catch (KubernetesClientException exc)
+        {
+            assertSame(serverError, exc);
+        }
+        verify(client, never()).withName(any());
+        verify(client, never()).replace(any());
+    }
+}