diff --git a/runtime/actors/agents.go b/runtime/actors/agents.go
index 0215c3669..2bfef8a38 100644
--- a/runtime/actors/agents.go
+++ b/runtime/actors/agents.go
@@ -170,30 +170,81 @@ type agentMessageResponse struct {
 }
 
 func ensureAgentReady(ctx context.Context, agentId string) (*AgentInfo, *goakt.PID, error) {
-	info, pid, err := getAgentInfo(ctx, agentId)
-	if pid != nil {
-		return info, pid, nil
-	}
-	if info == nil {
-		return info, nil, err
-	}
+	const maxRetries = 8
+	const baseDelay = 25 * time.Millisecond
+	const maxDelay = 500 * time.Millisecond
+
+	var lastErr error
+
+	for attempt := 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++ {
+		info, pid, err := getAgentInfo(ctx, agentId)
+
+		if pid != nil {
+			actor := pid.Actor().(*wasmAgentActor)
+			if actor.status == AgentStatusRunning {
+				return info, pid, nil
+			}
+			lastErr = fmt.Errorf("agent %s not ready (status: %s)", agentId, actor.status)
+		} else if info != nil {
+			switch info.Status {
+			case AgentStatusStarting:
+				lastErr = fmt.Errorf("agent %s is still starting", agentId)
+
+			case AgentStatusSuspended:
+				// Try to resume the agent (only on first attempt to avoid spam)
+				if attempt == 0 {
+					host := wasmhost.GetWasmHost(ctx)
+					plugin, ok := plugins.GetPluginFromContext(ctx)
+					if !ok {
+						return info, nil, fmt.Errorf("no plugin found in context for agent %s", agentId)
+					}
+
+					// Resume asynchronously
+					go func() {
+						if _, err := spawnActorForAgent(host, plugin, agentId, info.Name, false); err != nil {
+							logger.Err(context.Background(), err).Msgf("Failed to resume agent %s", agentId)
+						}
+					}()
+				}
+				lastErr = fmt.Errorf("agent %s is resuming", agentId)
+
+			case AgentStatusTerminated:
+				// Permanent failure - don't retry
+				return info, nil, fmt.Errorf("agent %s is terminated", agentId)
+
+			default:
+				// Other statuses - don't retry
+				return info, nil, fmt.Errorf("agent %s is %s, but not found in local actor system", agentId, info.Status)
+			}
+		} else if err != nil {
+			// Handle the error from getAgentInfo
+			lastErr = err
+		} else {
+			// Agent doesn't exist at all - permanent failure
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("agent %s not found", agentId)
+		}
+
+		// Exit early if this is the last attempt
+		if attempt == maxRetries-1 {
+			break
+		}
+
+		// Wait before retrying with exponential backoff
+		delay := time.Duration(float64(baseDelay) * (1.5*float64(attempt) + 1))
+		if delay > maxDelay {
+			delay = maxDelay
+		}
 
-	switch info.Status {
-	case AgentStatusSuspended:
-		// the actor is suspended, so we can try to resume it
-		host := wasmhost.GetWasmHost(ctx)
-		plugin, ok := plugins.GetPluginFromContext(ctx)
-		if !ok {
-			return info, nil, fmt.Errorf("no plugin found in context for agent %s", agentId)
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil, nil, ctx.Err()
+		case <-time.After(delay):
+			// Continue to next attempt
 		}
-		pid, err := spawnActorForAgent(host, plugin, agentId, info.Name, false)
-		return info, pid, err
-	case AgentStatusTerminated:
-		return info, nil, fmt.Errorf("agent %s is terminated", agentId)
-	default:
-		// this means the agent is running on another node - TODO: handle this somehow
-		return info, nil, fmt.Errorf("agent %s is %s, but not found in local actor system", agentId, info.Status)
 	}
+
+	// All retries exhausted
+	return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("agent %s not ready after %d attempts: %v", agentId, maxRetries, lastErr)
 }
 
 func SendAgentMessage(ctx context.Context, agentId string, msgName string, data *string, timeout int64) (*agentMessageResponse, error) {