diff --git a/cmd/reconciler/ip_test.go b/cmd/reconciler/ip_test.go
index 8fac94a5b..5e270c51c 100644
--- a/cmd/reconciler/ip_test.go
+++ b/cmd/reconciler/ip_test.go
@@ -252,6 +252,37 @@ var _ = Describe("Whereabouts IP reconciler", func() {
 			Expect(clusterWideIPAllocations.Items).To(HaveLen(expectedClusterWideIPs))
 		})
 	})
+
+	Context("a pod in pending state, without an IP in its network-status", func() {
+		const poolName = "pool1"
+
+		var pod *v1.Pod
+		var pool *v1alpha1.IPPool
+
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			var err error
+			pod, err = k8sClientSet.CoreV1().Pods(namespace).Create(
+				context.TODO(),
+				generatePendingPod(namespace, podName),
+				metav1.CreateOptions{})
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+			pool = generateIPPoolSpec(ipRange, namespace, poolName, pod.Name)
+			Expect(k8sClient.Create(context.Background(), pool)).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+			reconcileLooper, err = reconciler.NewReconcileLooperWithKubeconfig(kubeConfigPath, context.TODO())
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		AfterEach(func() {
+			Expect(k8sClient.Delete(context.Background(), pool)).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(k8sClientSet.CoreV1().Pods(namespace).Delete(context.TODO(), pod.GetName(), metav1.DeleteOptions{}))
+		})
+
+		It("cannot be reconciled", func() {
+			Expect(reconcileLooper.ReconcileIPPools()).To(BeEmpty())
+		})
+	})
 })
 
 func generateIPPoolSpec(ipRange string, namespace string, poolName string, podNames ...string) *v1alpha1.IPPool {
@@ -300,9 +331,16 @@ func generatePod(namespace string, podName string, ipNetworks ...ipInNetwork) *v
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		Status: v1.PodStatus{Phase: v1.PodRunning},
 	}
 }
 
+func generatePendingPod(namespace string, podName string, ipNetworks ...ipInNetwork) *v1.Pod {
+	pod := generatePod(namespace, podName, ipNetworks...)
+	pod.Status.Phase = v1.PodPending
+	return pod
+}
+
 func generatePodAnnotations(ipNetworks ...ipInNetwork) map[string]string {
 	var networks []string
 	for _, ipNetworkInfo := range ipNetworks {
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/iploop.go b/pkg/reconciler/iploop.go
index 46b4584b1..ecf4a3c3f 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/iploop.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/iploop.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func (rl ReconcileLooper) isPodAlive(podRef string, ip string) bool {
 				ip,
 				livePodIPs)
 			_, isFound := livePodIPs[ip]
-			return isFound
+			return isFound || livePod.phase == v1.PodPending
 		}
 	}
 	return false
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/wrappedPod.go b/pkg/reconciler/wrappedPod.go
index 154a8d3a4..86acbbfda 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/wrappedPod.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/wrappedPod.go
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ package reconciler
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 
+	k8snetworkplumbingwgv1 "github.com/k8snetworkplumbingwg/network-attachment-definition-client/pkg/apis/k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1"
 	"github.com/k8snetworkplumbingwg/whereabouts/pkg/logging"
 	"github.com/k8snetworkplumbingwg/whereabouts/pkg/storage"
-	k8snetworkplumbingwgv1 "github.com/k8snetworkplumbingwg/network-attachment-definition-client/pkg/apis/k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1"
 
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 )
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ const (
 )
 
 type podWrapper struct {
-	ips map[string]void
+	ips   map[string]void
+	phase v1.PodPhase
 }
 
 type void struct{}
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ type void struct{}
 func wrapPod(pod v1.Pod) *podWrapper {
 	return &podWrapper{
 		ips: getFlatIPSet(pod),
+		phase: pod.Status.Phase,
 	}
 }