diff --git a/pkg/cvo/cvo.go b/pkg/cvo/cvo.go
index 124bf7459..2dc27b4b8 100644
--- a/pkg/cvo/cvo.go
+++ b/pkg/cvo/cvo.go
@@ -226,8 +226,11 @@ func (optr *Operator) InitializeFromPayload(restConfig *rest.Config, burstRestCo
 // Run runs the cluster version operator until stopCh is completed. Workers is ignored for now.
 func (optr *Operator) Run(ctx context.Context, workers int) {
 	defer utilruntime.HandleCrash()
-	defer optr.queue.ShutDown()
+	// TODO: when Kube 77170 is fixed we can remove the use of the once here
+	var shutdownOnce sync.Once
+	defer shutdownOnce.Do(func() { optr.queue.ShutDown() })
 	stopCh := ctx.Done()
+	workerStopCh := make(chan struct{})
 
 	glog.Infof("Starting ClusterVersionOperator with minimum reconcile period %s", optr.minimumUpdateCheckInterval)
 	defer glog.Info("Shutting down ClusterVersionOperator")
@@ -243,11 +246,22 @@ func (optr *Operator) Run(ctx context.Context, workers int) {
 	// start the config sync loop, and have it notify the queue when new status is detected
 	go runThrottledStatusNotifier(stopCh, optr.statusInterval, 2, optr.configSync.StatusCh(), func() { optr.queue.Add(optr.queueKey()) })
 	go optr.configSync.Start(ctx, 16)
-
-	go wait.Until(func() { optr.worker(optr.queue, optr.sync) }, time.Second, stopCh)
 	go wait.Until(func() { optr.worker(optr.availableUpdatesQueue, optr.availableUpdatesSync) }, time.Second, stopCh)
+	go wait.Until(func() {
+		defer close(workerStopCh)
+
+		// run the worker, then when the queue is closed sync one final time to flush any pending status
+		optr.worker(optr.queue, optr.sync)
+		if err := optr.sync(optr.queueKey()); err != nil {
+			utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("unable to perform final sync: %v", err))
+		}
+	}, time.Second, stopCh)
 
 	<-stopCh
+
+	// stop the queue, then wait for the worker to exit
+	shutdownOnce.Do(func() { optr.queue.ShutDown() })
+	<-workerStopCh
 }
 
 func (optr *Operator) queueKey() string {
diff --git a/pkg/start/start.go b/pkg/start/start.go
index 0cc40b506..64253cd69 100644
--- a/pkg/start/start.go
+++ b/pkg/start/start.go
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func (o *Options) Run() error {
 
 		// exit after 2s no matter what
 		select {
-		case <-time.After(2 * time.Second):
+		case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
 			glog.Fatalf("Exiting")
 		case <-ch:
 			glog.Fatalf("Received shutdown signal twice, exiting")
diff --git a/pkg/start/start_integration_test.go b/pkg/start/start_integration_test.go
index 800eac708..64b86589a 100644
--- a/pkg/start/start_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/start/start_integration_test.go
@@ -739,9 +739,11 @@ func waitForUpdateAvailable(t *testing.T, client clientset.Interface, ns string,
 		}
 
 		if len(versions) == 1 {
-			// we should not observe status.generation == metadata.generation without also observing a status history entry
+			// we should not observe status.generation == metadata.generation without also observing a status history entry - if
+			// a version is set, it must match our desired version (we can occasionally observe a "working towards" event where only
+			// the image value is set, not the version)
 			if cv.Status.ObservedGeneration == cv.Generation {
-				if len(cv.Status.History) == 0 || cv.Status.History[0].Version != versions[0] {
+				if len(cv.Status.History) == 0 || (cv.Status.History[0].Version != "" && cv.Status.History[0].Version != versions[0]) {
 					return false, fmt.Errorf("initializing operator should set history and generation at the same time")
 				}
 			}
@@ -770,10 +772,11 @@ func waitForUpdateAvailable(t *testing.T, client clientset.Interface, ns string,
 		// we should not observe status.generation == metadata.generation without also observing a status history entry
 		if cv.Status.ObservedGeneration == cv.Generation {
 			target := versions[len(versions)-1]
-			if cv.Status.Desired.Version != target {
+			hasVersion := cv.Status.Desired.Version != ""
+			if hasVersion && cv.Status.Desired.Version != target {
 				return false, fmt.Errorf("upgrading operator should always have desired version when spec version is set")
 			}
-			if len(cv.Status.History) == 0 || cv.Status.History[0].Version != target {
+			if len(cv.Status.History) == 0 || (hasVersion && cv.Status.History[0].Version != target) {
 				return false, fmt.Errorf("upgrading operator should set history and generation at the same time")
 			}
 		}
@@ -873,10 +876,11 @@ func waitUntilUpgradeFails(t *testing.T, client clientset.Interface, ns string,
 		// we should not observe status.generation == metadata.generation without also observing a status history entry
 		if cv.Status.ObservedGeneration == cv.Generation {
 			target := versions[len(versions)-1]
-			if cv.Status.Desired.Version != target {
+			hasVersion := cv.Status.Desired.Version != ""
+			if hasVersion && cv.Status.Desired.Version != target {
 				return false, fmt.Errorf("upgrading operator should always have desired version when spec version is set")
 			}
-			if len(cv.Status.History) == 0 || cv.Status.History[0].Version != target {
+			if len(cv.Status.History) == 0 || (hasVersion && cv.Status.History[0].Version != target) {
 				return false, fmt.Errorf("upgrading operator should set history and generation at the same time")
 			}
 		}