diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug.go b/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug.go
index 0b13730634..bf35cad66c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/pkg/device/config"
@@ -39,12 +40,15 @@ func coldPlugDevices(ctx context.Context, s *service, ociSpec *specs.Spec) error
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	kubeletSock := s.config.PodResourceAPISock
-	if kubeletSock != "" {
+	if kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(s.config.PodResourceAPISock) {
 		return coldPlugWithAPI(ctx, s, ociSpec)
 	}
 
-	shimLog.Debug("config.PodResourceAPISock not set, skip k8s based device cold plug")
+	if s.config.PodResourceAPISock != "" {
+		shimLog.Debugf("config.PodResourceAPISock %q not available, fall back to CDI annotations", s.config.PodResourceAPISock)
+	} else {
+		shimLog.Debug("config.PodResourceAPISock not set, use CDI annotations for cold plug")
+	}
 
 	// Here we deal with CDI devices that are cold-plugged
 	// for the single_container (nerdctl, podman, ...) use-case.
@@ -58,6 +62,20 @@ func coldPlugDevices(ctx context.Context, s *service, ociSpec *specs.Spec) error
 	return nil
 }
 
+// kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable reports whether the configured kubelet Pod
+// Resources API socket exists and can be used for Kubernetes-based cold plug.
+func kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(sock string) bool {
+	if sock == "" {
+		return false
+	}
+	fi, err := os.Stat(sock)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return (fi.Mode() & os.ModeSocket) != 0
+}
+
 func coldPlugWithAPI(ctx context.Context, s *service, ociSpec *specs.Spec) error {
 	ann := ociSpec.Annotations
 	devices, err := getDeviceSpec(ctx, s.config.PodResourceAPISock, ann)
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug_test.go b/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c914cb7348
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/containerd-shim-v2/device_cold_plug_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025 NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+//
+
+package containerdshim
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestKubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.False(t, kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(""))
+
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	sockPath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "kubelet.sock")
+	assert.False(t, kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(sockPath))
+
+	f, err := os.Create(sockPath)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NoError(t, f.Close())
+
+	assert.False(t, kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(sockPath))
+
+	assert.NoError(t, os.Remove(sockPath))
+	l, err := net.Listen("unix", sockPath)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	defer l.Close()
+
+	assert.True(t, kubeletPodResourceSocketAvailable(sockPath))
+}