diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/aws/aws.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/aws/aws.go
index 8e67eb7e459..4e620deec03 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/aws/aws.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/aws/aws.go
@@ -1588,6 +1588,10 @@ func (c *Cloud) InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID strin
 
 	instances, err := c.ec2.DescribeInstances(request)
 	if err != nil {
+		// if err is InstanceNotFound, return false with no error
+		if isAWSErrorInstanceNotFound(err) {
+			return false, nil
+		}
 		return false, err
 	}
 	if len(instances) == 0 {
@@ -1803,6 +1807,20 @@ func (c *Cloud) GetZoneByNodeName(ctx context.Context, nodeName types.NodeName)
 
 }
 
+func isAWSErrorInstanceNotFound(err error) bool {
+	if err == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	if awsError, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok {
+		if awsError.Code() == ec2.UnsuccessfulInstanceCreditSpecificationErrorCodeInvalidInstanceIdNotFound {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 // Used to represent a mount device for attaching an EBS volume
 // This should be stored as a single letter (i.e. c, not sdc or /dev/sdc)
 type mountDevice string