diff --git a/cmd/gce-pd-csi-driver/main.go b/cmd/gce-pd-csi-driver/main.go
index 06c1ab7ca..75ee28e88 100644
--- a/cmd/gce-pd-csi-driver/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gce-pd-csi-driver/main.go
@@ -245,11 +245,15 @@ func handle() {
 		if err != nil {
 			klog.Fatalf("Failed to set up metadata service: %v", err.Error())
 		}
+		isDataCacheEnabledNodePool, err := isDataCacheEnabledNodePool(ctx, *nodeName)
+		if err != nil {
+			klog.Fatalf("Failed to get node info from API server: %v", err.Error())
+		}
 		nsArgs := driver.NodeServerArgs{
 			EnableDeviceInUseCheck:   *enableDeviceInUseCheck,
 			DeviceInUseTimeout:       *deviceInUseTimeout,
 			EnableDataCache:          *enableDataCacheFlag,
-			DataCacheEnabledNodePool: isDataCacheEnabledNodePool(ctx, *nodeName),
+			DataCacheEnabledNodePool: isDataCacheEnabledNodePool,
 		}
 		nodeServer = driver.NewNodeServer(gceDriver, mounter, deviceUtils, meta, statter, nsArgs)
 		if *maxConcurrentFormatAndMount > 0 {
@@ -347,14 +351,15 @@ func urlFlag(target **url.URL, name string, usage string) {
 	})
 }
 
-func isDataCacheEnabledNodePool(ctx context.Context, nodeName string) bool {
-	if nodeName != common.TestNode { // disregard logic below when E2E testing.
+func isDataCacheEnabledNodePool(ctx context.Context, nodeName string) (bool, error) {
+	if !*enableDataCacheFlag {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	if len(nodeName) > 0 && nodeName != common.TestNode { // disregard logic below when E2E testing.
 		dataCacheLSSDCount, err := driver.GetDataCacheCountFromNodeLabel(ctx, nodeName)
-		if err != nil || dataCacheLSSDCount == 0 {
-			return false
-		}
+		return dataCacheLSSDCount != 0, err
 	}
-	return true
+	return true, nil
 }
 
 func fetchLssdsForRaiding(lssdCount int) ([]string, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/gce-pd-csi-driver/cache.go b/pkg/gce-pd-csi-driver/cache.go
index 691eb4f07..03b5dfe0f 100644
--- a/pkg/gce-pd-csi-driver/cache.go
+++ b/pkg/gce-pd-csi-driver/cache.go
@@ -7,10 +7,13 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	csi "github.com/container-storage-interface/spec/lib/go/csi"
 	fsnotify "github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
+	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
@@ -242,8 +245,6 @@ func ValidateDataCacheConfig(dataCacheMode string, dataCacheSize string, ctx con
 
 func GetDataCacheCountFromNodeLabel(ctx context.Context, nodeName string) (int, error) {
 	cfg, err := rest.InClusterConfig()
-	// We want to capture API errors with node label fetching, so return -1
-	// in those cases instead of 0.
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
@@ -251,9 +252,8 @@ func GetDataCacheCountFromNodeLabel(ctx context.Context, nodeName string) (int,
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
-	node, err := kubeClient.CoreV1().Nodes().Get(ctx, nodeName, metav1.GetOptions{})
+	node, err := getNodeWithRetry(ctx, kubeClient, nodeName)
 	if err != nil {
-		// We could retry, but this error will also crashloop the driver which may be as good a way to retry as any.
 		return 0, err
 	}
 	if val, found := node.GetLabels()[fmt.Sprintf(common.NodeLabelPrefix, common.DataCacheLssdCountLabel)]; found {
@@ -264,10 +264,33 @@ func GetDataCacheCountFromNodeLabel(ctx context.Context, nodeName string) (int,
 		klog.V(4).Infof("Number of local SSDs requested for Data Cache: %v", dataCacheCount)
 		return dataCacheCount, nil
 	}
-	// This will be returned for a non-Data-Cache node pool
 	return 0, nil
 }
 
+func getNodeWithRetry(ctx context.Context, kubeClient *kubernetes.Clientset, nodeName string) (*v1.Node, error) {
+	var nodeObj *v1.Node
+	backoff := wait.Backoff{
+		Duration: 1 * time.Second,
+		Factor:   2.0,
+		Steps:    5,
+	}
+	err := wait.ExponentialBackoffWithContext(ctx, backoff, func() (bool, error) {
+		node, err := kubeClient.CoreV1().Nodes().Get(ctx, nodeName, metav1.GetOptions{})
+		if err != nil {
+			klog.Warningf("Error getting node %s: %v, retrying...\n", nodeName, err)
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		nodeObj = node
+		klog.V(4).Infof("Successfully retrieved node info %s\n", nodeName)
+		return true, nil
+	})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Errorf("Failed to get node %s after retries: %v\n", nodeName, err)
+	}
+	return nodeObj, err
+}
+
 func FetchRaidedLssdCountForDatacache() (int, error) {
 	raidedPath, err := fetchRAIDedLocalSsdPath()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/test/e2e/utils/utils.go b/test/e2e/utils/utils.go
index 949c62e40..0f9f7dd86 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils/utils.go
+++ b/test/e2e/utils/utils.go
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ func GCEClientAndDriverSetup(instance *remote.InstanceInfo, driverConfig DriverC
 		fmt.Sprintf("--fallback-requisite-zones=%s", strings.Join(driverConfig.Zones, ",")),
 	}
 
+	extra_flags = append(extra_flags, fmt.Sprintf("--node-name=%s", utilcommon.TestNode))
 	if instance.GetLocalSSD() > 0 {
 		extra_flags = append(extra_flags, "--enable-data-cache")
-		extra_flags = append(extra_flags, fmt.Sprintf("--node-name=%s", utilcommon.TestNode))
 	}
 	extra_flags = append(extra_flags, fmt.Sprintf("--compute-endpoint=%s", driverConfig.ComputeEndpoint))
 	extra_flags = append(extra_flags, driverConfig.ExtraFlags...)