diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/aggregator.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/aggregator.go
index 397c151e66a..cf2347bfccc 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/aggregator.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/aggregator.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
-	apiextensionsv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
 	apiextensionsinformers "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/client/informers/externalversions"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
@@ -117,7 +116,7 @@ func createAggregatorConfig(
 	return aggregatorConfig, nil
 }
 
-func createAggregatorServer(aggregatorConfig *aggregatorapiserver.Config, delegateAPIServer genericapiserver.DelegationTarget, apiExtensionInformers apiextensionsinformers.SharedInformerFactory) (*aggregatorapiserver.APIAggregator, error) {
+func createAggregatorServer(aggregatorConfig *aggregatorapiserver.Config, delegateAPIServer genericapiserver.DelegationTarget, apiExtensionInformers apiextensionsinformers.SharedInformerFactory, crdAPIEnabled bool) (*aggregatorapiserver.APIAggregator, error) {
 	aggregatorServer, err := aggregatorConfig.Complete().NewWithDelegate(delegateAPIServer)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -147,8 +146,12 @@ func createAggregatorServer(aggregatorConfig *aggregatorapiserver.Config, delega
 			// let the CRD controller process the initial set of CRDs before starting the autoregistration controller.
 			// this prevents the autoregistration controller's initial sync from deleting APIServices for CRDs that still exist.
 			// we only need to do this if CRDs are enabled on this server.  We can't use discovery because we are the source for discovery.
-			if aggregatorConfig.GenericConfig.MergedResourceConfig.ResourceEnabled(apiextensionsv1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource("customresourcedefinitions")) {
+			if crdAPIEnabled {
+				klog.Infof("waiting for initial CRD sync...")
 				crdRegistrationController.WaitForInitialSync()
+				klog.Infof("initial CRD sync complete...")
+			} else {
+				klog.Infof("CRD API not enabled, starting APIService registration without waiting for initial CRD sync")
 			}
 			autoRegistrationController.Run(5, context.StopCh)
 		}()
diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
index 7f7a58fbd6c..da420e82162 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 
 	oteltrace "go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 
+	apiextensionsv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
 	extensionsapiserver "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver"
 	utilerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
 	utilnet "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net"
@@ -193,6 +194,7 @@ func CreateServerChain(completedOptions completedServerRunOptions) (*aggregatora
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	crdAPIEnabled := apiExtensionsConfig.GenericConfig.MergedResourceConfig.ResourceEnabled(apiextensionsv1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource("customresourcedefinitions"))
 
 	notFoundHandler := notfoundhandler.New(kubeAPIServerConfig.GenericConfig.Serializer, genericapifilters.NoMuxAndDiscoveryIncompleteKey)
 	apiExtensionsServer, err := createAPIExtensionsServer(apiExtensionsConfig, genericapiserver.NewEmptyDelegateWithCustomHandler(notFoundHandler))
@@ -210,7 +212,7 @@ func CreateServerChain(completedOptions completedServerRunOptions) (*aggregatora
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	aggregatorServer, err := createAggregatorServer(aggregatorConfig, kubeAPIServer.GenericAPIServer, apiExtensionsServer.Informers)
+	aggregatorServer, err := createAggregatorServer(aggregatorConfig, kubeAPIServer.GenericAPIServer, apiExtensionsServer.Informers, crdAPIEnabled)
 	if err != nil {
 		// we don't need special handling for innerStopCh because the aggregator server doesn't create any go routines
 		return nil, err