diff --git a/cmd/cluster-node-tuning-operator/main.go b/cmd/cluster-node-tuning-operator/main.go
index 5f8494a21d..a96fc350a2 100644
--- a/cmd/cluster-node-tuning-operator/main.go
+++ b/cmd/cluster-node-tuning-operator/main.go
@@ -225,13 +225,13 @@ func removePerformanceOLMOperator(cfg *rest.Config) error {
 	}
 
 	performanceOperatorCSVs, err := paocontroller.ListPerformanceOperatorCSVs(k8sclient, options, paginationLimit, performanceOperatorDeploymentName)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err != nil && !util.IsNoMatchError(err) {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	subscriptions := &olmv1alpha1.SubscriptionList{}
 	if err := k8sclient.List(context.TODO(), subscriptions); err != nil {
-		if !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		if !errors.IsNotFound(err) && !util.IsNoMatchError(err) {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/util/errors.go b/pkg/util/errors.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7dd9773ec0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/errors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/discovery"
+)
+
+// IsNoMatchError checks if error is for a non existant resource, there is a meaningful difference between a
+// resource type not existing on the cluster as a whole versus an individual resource not being found.
+//
+// Example:
+// OLM can be an optional operator, when the OLM resources do not exist, the returned
+// error is a discovery error of meta.NoResourceMatchError.
+//
+// A bug is present in controller-runtime@v0.16.1 and older where the returned error type is a DiscoveryFailedError
+// this was fixed in https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/controller-runtime/pull/2472 and versions of controller-runtime@v0.16.2
+// going forward will return the meta.NoResourceMatchError error. Here we check if either one is true.
+func IsNoMatchError(err error) bool {
+	// We use errors.As instead of discovery.IsGroupDiscoveryFailedError because it Unwraps errors.
+	_err := &discovery.ErrGroupDiscoveryFailed{}
+	return meta.IsNoMatchError(err) || errors.As(err, &_err)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/util/errors_test.go b/pkg/util/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5619b4ea56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/discovery"
+)
+
+func mockAPIStatusError(reason metav1.StatusReason, code int) *apierrors.StatusError {
+	return &apierrors.StatusError{ErrStatus: metav1.Status{
+		Reason: reason,
+		Code:   int32(code),
+	}}
+}
+
+func TestIsNoMatchError(t *testing.T) {
+	defaultErr := discovery.ErrGroupDiscoveryFailed{
+		Groups: map[schema.GroupVersion]error{
+			{
+				Group:   "apps",
+				Version: "v1",
+			}: fmt.Errorf("resource does not exist"),
+		},
+	}
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		desc          string
+		err           error
+		expectedMatch bool
+	}{
+		{
+			desc:          "should match discovery.ErrGroupDiscoveryFailed",
+			err:           &defaultErr,
+			expectedMatch: true,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:          "should match meta.NoResourceMatchError",
+			err:           &meta.NoResourceMatchError{},
+			expectedMatch: true,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:          "should unwrap error tree and match discovery.ErrGroupDiscoveryFailed",
+			err:           fmt.Errorf("wrapped error %w", fmt.Errorf("inner %w", &defaultErr)),
+			expectedMatch: true,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:          "should unwrap error tree and match meta.NoResourceMatchError",
+			err:           fmt.Errorf("wrapped error %w", fmt.Errorf("inner %w", &meta.NoResourceMatchError{})),
+			expectedMatch: true,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:          "should not match regular error",
+			err:           errors.New("some other error"),
+			expectedMatch: false,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:          "should not match on api error: NotFound",
+			err:           mockAPIStatusError(metav1.StatusReasonNotFound, 404),
+			expectedMatch: false,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:          "should not match on api error: Gone",
+			err:           mockAPIStatusError(metav1.StatusReasonGone, 410),
+			expectedMatch: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if IsNoMatchError(tc.err) != tc.expectedMatch {
+				t.Errorf("error did not match expected: %T", tc.err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}