diff --git a/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go b/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go
index 5726d37e..bebe98fc 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ const (
 // CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler represents a reconciler for importing CAPI clusters in Rancher.
 type CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler struct {
 	Client             client.Client
+	UncachedClient     client.Client
 	RancherClient      client.Client
 	recorder           record.EventRecorder
 	WatchFilterValue   string
@@ -262,16 +263,10 @@ func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) reconcileNormal(ctx context.Context,
 
 	err := r.RancherClient.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(rancherCluster), rancherCluster)
 	if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-		shouldImport, err := util.ShouldAutoImport(ctx, log, r.Client, capiCluster, importLabelName)
-		if err != nil {
+		if autoImport, err := r.shouldAutoImportUncached(ctx, capiCluster); err != nil || !autoImport {
 			return ctrl.Result{}, err
 		}
 
-		if !shouldImport {
-			log.Info("not auto importing cluster as namespace or cluster isn't marked auto import")
-			return ctrl.Result{}, nil
-		}
-
 		newCluster := &managementv3.Cluster{
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 				Namespace:    capiCluster.Namespace,
@@ -372,6 +367,24 @@ func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) reconcileNormal(ctx context.Context,
 	return ctrl.Result{}, nil
 }
 
+func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) shouldAutoImportUncached(ctx context.Context, capiCluster *clusterv1.Cluster) (bool, error) {
+	log := log.FromContext(ctx)
+
+	if err := r.UncachedClient.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(capiCluster), capiCluster); err != nil {
+		return false, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
+	}
+
+	if shouldImport, err := util.ShouldAutoImport(ctx, log, r.Client, capiCluster, importLabelName); err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	} else if !shouldImport {
+		log.Info("not auto importing cluster as namespace or cluster isn't marked auto import")
+
+		return false, nil
+	}
+
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) rancherV3ClusterToCapiCluster(ctx context.Context, clusterPredicate predicate.Funcs) handler.MapFunc {
 	log := log.FromContext(ctx)
 
diff --git a/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3_test.go b/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3_test.go
index 7cfb0764..ceacf296 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3_test.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3_test.go
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ var _ = Describe("reconcile CAPI Cluster", func() {
 
 		r = &CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler{
 			Client:             cl,
+			UncachedClient:     cl,
 			RancherClient:      cl, // rancher and rancher-turtles deployed in the same cluster
 			remoteClientGetter: remote.NewClusterClient,
 			Scheme:             testEnv.GetScheme(),
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index b92585b3..7748ddb4 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package main
 
 import (
+	"cmp"
 	"context"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
@@ -190,17 +191,45 @@ func setupChecks(mgr ctrl.Manager) {
 }
 
 func setupReconcilers(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager) {
-	rancherClient, err := setupRancherClient(mgr)
+	rancherClient, err := setupRancherClient(client.Options{Scheme: mgr.GetClient().Scheme()})
 	if err != nil {
 		setupLog.Error(err, "failed to create client")
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	rancherClient = cmp.Or(rancherClient, mgr.GetClient())
+
+	options := client.Options{
+		Scheme: mgr.GetClient().Scheme(),
+		Cache: &client.CacheOptions{
+			DisableFor: []client.Object{
+				&clusterv1.Cluster{},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	uncachedClient, err := setupRancherClient(options)
+	if err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "failed to create uncached rancher client")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	if uncachedClient == nil {
+		cl, err := client.New(mgr.GetConfig(), options)
+		if err != nil {
+			setupLog.Error(err, "failed to create uncached rancher client (same cluster)")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+
+		uncachedClient = cl
+	}
+
 	if feature.Gates.Enabled(feature.ManagementV3Cluster) {
 		setupLog.Info("enabling CAPI cluster import controller for `management.cattle.io/v3` resources")
 
 		if err := (&controllers.CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler{
 			Client:             mgr.GetClient(),
+			UncachedClient:     uncachedClient,
 			RancherClient:      rancherClient,
 			WatchFilterValue:   watchFilterValue,
 			InsecureSkipVerify: insecureSkipVerify,
@@ -263,7 +292,7 @@ func setupReconcilers(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager) {
 // setupRancherClient can either create a client for an in-cluster installation (rancher and rancher-turtles in the same cluster)
 // or create a client for an out-of-cluster installation (rancher and rancher-turtles in different clusters) based on the
 // existence of Rancher kubeconfig file.
-func setupRancherClient(mgr ctrl.Manager) (client.Client, error) {
+func setupRancherClient(options client.Options) (client.Client, error) {
 	if len(rancherKubeconfig) > 0 {
 		setupLog.Info("out-of-cluster installation of rancher-turtles", "using kubeconfig from path", rancherKubeconfig)
 
@@ -272,7 +301,7 @@ func setupRancherClient(mgr ctrl.Manager) (client.Client, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to load kubeconfig from file: %w", err)
 		}
 
-		rancherClient, err := client.New(restConfig, client.Options{Scheme: mgr.GetClient().Scheme()})
+		rancherClient, err := client.New(restConfig, options)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -282,7 +311,7 @@ func setupRancherClient(mgr ctrl.Manager) (client.Client, error) {
 
 	setupLog.Info("in-cluster installation of rancher-turtles")
 
-	return mgr.GetClient(), nil
+	return nil, nil
 }
 
 // loadConfigWithContext loads a REST Config from a path using a logic similar to the one used in controller-runtime.
diff --git a/util/util.go b/util/util.go
index e97c799a..8b13dec8 100644
--- a/util/util.go
+++ b/util/util.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 
 	clusterv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/api/v1beta1"
+
+	turtlesannotations "github.com/rancher/turtles/util/annotations"
 )
 
 // ShouldImport checks if the object has the label set to true.
@@ -49,8 +51,8 @@ func ShouldAutoImport(ctx context.Context, logger logr.Logger, cl client.Client,
 
 	// Check CAPI cluster for label first
 	hasLabel, autoImport := ShouldImport(capiCluster, label)
-	if hasLabel && autoImport {
-		logger.V(2).Info("Cluster contains import annotation")
+	if hasLabel && autoImport && !turtlesannotations.HasClusterImportAnnotation(capiCluster) {
+		logger.V(2).Info("Cluster contains import label and has no `imported` annotation")
 
 		return true, nil
 	}