diff --git a/scripts/smoke-check-tailnet-services.sh b/scripts/smoke-check-tailnet-services.sh
index ec1c9e8..66e9251 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke-check-tailnet-services.sh
+++ b/scripts/smoke-check-tailnet-services.sh
@@ -22,22 +22,35 @@ retry() {
   done
 }
 
-restart_tailscale_operator() {
+wait_for_tailscale_operator() {
+  local timeout_seconds="${1:-1200}"
+  local elapsed=0
+  local available
+
   if ! "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get deployment/operator >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     return 0
   fi
 
-  if "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system rollout status deployment/operator --timeout=60s; then
-    return 0
-  fi
+  while [ "$elapsed" -lt "$timeout_seconds" ]; do
+    available="$("${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get deployment/operator -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Available")].status}' 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    if [ "$available" = "True" ] && "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system wait --for=condition=Ready pod -l app=operator --timeout=10s >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      return 0
+    fi
 
-  echo "Restarting unhealthy Tailscale operator before smoke checks"
-  "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system delete pod -l app=operator --wait=false
-  if ! "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system rollout status deployment/operator --timeout=600s; then
-    "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get pods -o wide >&2 || true
-    "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system logs deployment/operator --tail=100 >&2 || true
-    return 1
-  fi
+    if [ "$elapsed" -gt 0 ] && [ $((elapsed % 120)) -eq 0 ]; then
+      echo "Waiting for Tailscale operator to recover (${elapsed}s/${timeout_seconds}s)" >&2
+      "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get pods -o wide >&2 || true
+      "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system logs deployment/operator --previous --tail=40 >&2 || true
+    fi
+
+    sleep 10
+    elapsed=$((elapsed + 10))
+  done
+
+  "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get pods -o wide >&2 || true
+  "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system logs deployment/operator --previous --tail=100 >&2 || true
+  "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system logs deployment/operator --tail=100 >&2 || true
+  return 1
 }
 
 restart_unhealthy_tailscale_proxies() {
@@ -77,10 +90,10 @@ restart_service_tailscale_proxy() {
 
   proxy_pods="$("${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get pods -l "app=${service_uid}" -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}' 2>/dev/null || true)"
   if [ -z "$proxy_pods" ]; then
-    echo "No proxy pod with app=$service_uid for $namespace/$service_name; restarting operator and waiting for proxy creation" >&2
-    restart_tailscale_operator
+    echo "No proxy pod with app=$service_uid for $namespace/$service_name; waiting for operator and proxy creation" >&2
+    wait_for_tailscale_operator 1200
     sleep 30
-    if ! retry 18 10 service_proxy_ready "$namespace" "$service_name"; then
+    if ! retry 60 10 service_proxy_ready "$namespace" "$service_name"; then
       "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n "$namespace" get svc "$service_name" -o yaml >&2 || true
       "${KUBECTL[@]}" -n tailscale-system get pods -o wide >&2 || true
       return 1
@@ -187,7 +200,7 @@ check_service() {
   echo "HTTP status OK for $url"
 }
 
-restart_tailscale_operator
+wait_for_tailscale_operator 1200
 restart_unhealthy_tailscale_proxies
 
 check_service "cattle-system" "rancher-tailscale" "rancher.silverside-gopher.ts.net" "https://rancher.silverside-gopher.ts.net/"