diff --git a/.github/actions/constellation_create/action.yml b/.github/actions/constellation_create/action.yml
index a4c530c94..7e149fc18 100644
--- a/.github/actions/constellation_create/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/constellation_create/action.yml
@@ -217,31 +217,9 @@ runs:
       env:
         KUBECONFIG: "${{ steps.get-kubeconfig.outputs.KUBECONFIG }}"
         JOINTIMEOUT: "1200" # 20 minutes timeout for all nodes to join
-      run: |
-        echo "::group::Wait for nodes"
-        NODES_COUNT=$((${{ inputs.controlNodesCount }} + ${{ inputs.workerNodesCount }}))
-        JOINWAIT=0
-        until [[ "$(kubectl get nodes -o json | jq '.items | length')" == "${NODES_COUNT}" ]] || [[ $JOINWAIT -gt $JOINTIMEOUT ]];
-        do
-            echo "$(kubectl get nodes -o json | jq '.items | length')/"${NODES_COUNT}" nodes have joined.. waiting.."
-            JOINWAIT=$((JOINWAIT+30))
-            sleep 30
-        done
-        if [[ $JOINWAIT -gt $JOINTIMEOUT ]]; then
-            kubectl get nodes -o wide
-            echo "::error::Timed out waiting for nodes to join"
-            echo "::endgroup::"
-            exit 1
-        fi
-        echo "$(kubectl get nodes -o json | jq '.items | length')/"${NODES_COUNT}" nodes have joined"
-        if ! kubectl wait --for=condition=ready --all nodes --timeout=20m; then
-          kubectl get pods -n kube-system
-          kubectl get events -n kube-system
-          echo "::error::kubectl wait timed out before all nodes became ready"
-          echo "::endgroup::"
-          exit 1
-        fi
-        echo "::endgroup::"
+        CONTROL_NODES_COUNT: "${{ inputs.controlNodesCount }}"
+        WORKER_NODES_COUNT: "${{ inputs.workerNodesCount }}"
+      run: ./.github/actions/constellation_create/wait-for-nodes.sh
 
     - name: Download boot logs
       if: always()
diff --git a/.github/actions/constellation_create/wait-for-nodes.sh b/.github/actions/constellation_create/wait-for-nodes.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9fb9b36e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/constellation_create/wait-for-nodes.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# We don't want to abort the script if there's a transient error in kubectl.
+set +e
+set -uo pipefail
+
+NODES_COUNT=$((CONTROL_NODES_COUNT + WORKER_NODES_COUNT))
+JOINWAIT=0
+
+# Reports how many nodes are registered and fulfill condition=ready.
+num_nodes_ready() {
+  kubectl get nodes -o json |
+    jq '.items | map(select(.status.conditions[] | .type == "Ready" and .status == "True")) | length'
+}
+
+# Reports how many API server pods are ready.
+num_apiservers_ready() {
+  kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l component=kube-apiserver -o json |
+    jq '.items | map(select(.status.conditions[] | .type == "Ready" and .status == "True")) | length'
+}
+
+# Prints node joining progress.
+report_join_progress() {
+  echo -n "nodes_joined=$(kubectl get nodes -o json | jq '.items | length')/${NODES_COUNT} "
+  echo -n "nodes_ready=$(num_nodes_ready)/${NODES_COUNT} "
+  echo "api_servers_ready=$(num_apiservers_ready)/${CONTROL_NODES_COUNT} ..."
+}
+
+# Indicates by exit code whether the cluster is ready, i.e. all nodes and API servers are ready.
+cluster_ready() {
+  [[ "$(num_nodes_ready)" == "${NODES_COUNT}" && "$(num_apiservers_ready)" == "${CONTROL_NODES_COUNT}" ]]
+}
+
+echo "::group::Wait for nodes"
+until cluster_ready || [[ ${JOINWAIT} -gt ${JOINTIMEOUT} ]]; do
+  report_join_progress
+  JOINWAIT=$((JOINWAIT + 30))
+  sleep 30
+done
+report_join_progress
+if [[ ${JOINWAIT} -gt ${JOINTIMEOUT} ]]; then
+  set -x
+  kubectl get nodes -o wide
+  kubectl get pods -n kube-system -o wide
+  kubectl get events -n kube-system
+  set +x
+  echo "::error::timeout reached before all nodes became ready"
+  echo "::endgroup::"
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "::endgroup::"