diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs b/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs
index 30aa932d5..0703baa10 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use kube_client::{
     Api, Error as ClientErr,
 };
 use serde::de::DeserializeOwned;
-use std::{clone::Clone, collections::VecDeque, fmt::Debug, time::Duration};
+use std::{clone::Clone, collections::VecDeque, fmt::Debug, future, time::Duration};
 use thiserror::Error;
 use tracing::{debug, error, warn};
 
@@ -844,18 +844,36 @@ pub fn watch_object<K: Resource + Clone + DeserializeOwned + Debug + Send + 'sta
     // filtering by object name in given scope, so there's at most one matching object
     // footgun: Api::all may generate events from namespaced objects with the same name in different namespaces
     let fields = format!("metadata.name={name}");
-    watcher(api, Config::default().fields(&fields)).filter_map(|event| async {
-        match event {
-            // Pass up `Some` for Found / Updated
-            Ok(Event::Apply(obj) | Event::InitApply(obj)) => Some(Ok(Some(obj))),
-            // Pass up `None` for Deleted
-            Ok(Event::Delete(_)) => Some(Ok(None)),
-            // Ignore marker events
-            Ok(Event::Init | Event::InitDone) => None,
-            // Bubble up errors
-            Err(err) => Some(Err(err)),
-        }
-    })
+    watcher(api, Config::default().fields(&fields))
+        // track whether the object was seen in each initial listing
+        .scan(false, |obj_seen, event| {
+            if matches!(event, Ok(Event::Init)) {
+                *obj_seen = false;
+            } else if matches!(event, Ok(Event::InitApply(_))) {
+                *obj_seen = true;
+            }
+            future::ready(Some((*obj_seen, event)))
+        })
+        .filter_map(|(obj_seen, event)| async move {
+            match event {
+                // Pass up `Some` for Found / Updated
+                Ok(Event::Apply(obj)) | Ok(Event::InitApply(obj)) => Some(Ok(Some(obj))),
+                // Pass up `None` for Deleted
+                Ok(Event::Delete(_)) => Some(Ok(None)),
+                // Ignore marker event
+                Ok(Event::Init) => None,
+                // Pass up `None` if the object wasn't seen in any initial list
+                Ok(Event::InitDone) => {
+                    if obj_seen {
+                        None
+                    } else {
+                        Some(Ok(None))
+                    }
+                }
+                // Bubble up errors
+                Err(err) => Some(Err(err)),
+            }
+        })
 }
 
 /// Default watcher backoff inspired by Kubernetes' client-go.