diff --git a/src/operator/controllers/iam/pods/pods_controller.go b/src/operator/controllers/iam/pods/pods_controller.go
index d65a40f..3ad5bb2 100644
--- a/src/operator/controllers/iam/pods/pods_controller.go
+++ b/src/operator/controllers/iam/pods/pods_controller.go
@@ -125,9 +125,9 @@ func (r *PodReconciler) handlePodCleanup(ctx context.Context, pod corev1.Pod) (c
 
 	updatedPod := pod.DeepCopy()
 	if controllerutil.RemoveFinalizer(updatedPod, r.agent.FinalizerName()) || controllerutil.RemoveFinalizer(updatedPod, metadata.DeprecatedIAMRoleFinalizer) {
-		err := r.Patch(ctx, updatedPod, client.MergeFrom(&pod))
+		err := r.Patch(ctx, updatedPod, client.StrategicMergeFrom(&pod))
 		if err != nil {
-			if apierrors.IsConflict(err) || apierrors.IsNotFound(err) || apierrors.IsForbidden(err) {
+			if apierrors.IsConflict(err) || apierrors.IsNotFound(err) || apierrors.IsForbidden(err) || apierrors.IsInvalid(err) {
 				// These are all errors that can happen because the pod is already being deleted, requeuing
 				// should solve them all in a classy way
 				return ctrl.Result{Requeue: true}, nil