diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller.go b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller.go
index 27ce453..d0d6354 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller.go
@@ -91,7 +91,13 @@ func (r *ManagedControlPlaneReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req recon
 		}).
 		WithConditionUpdater(false).
 		WithConditionEvents(r.eventRecorder, conditions.EventPerChange).
-		WithSmartRequeue(r.sr).
+		WithSmartRequeue(r.sr, func(rr ReconcileResult) ctrlutils.SmartRequeueAction {
+			if rr.SmartRequeue == ctrlutils.SR_NO_REQUEUE && rr.Object.Status.Phase != commonapi.StatusPhaseReady {
+				// requeue if the phase is not 'Ready' if a requeue is not already planned
+				return ctrlutils.SR_BACKOFF
+			}
+			return rr.SmartRequeue
+		}).
 		Build().
 		UpdateStatus(ctx, r.OnboardingCluster.Client(), rr)
 }
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller_test.go b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller_test.go
index eac9b77..31f246b 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/controller_test.go
@@ -284,6 +284,10 @@ var _ = Describe("ManagedControlPlane Controller", func() {
 			Expect(env.Client(platform).Create(env.Ctx, sec)).To(Succeed())
 		}
 
+		// remove non-ready cluster condition because it will prevent the MCP from becoming ready
+		cluster.Status.Conditions[1].Status = metav1.ConditionTrue
+		Expect(env.Client(platform).Status().Update(env.Ctx, cluster)).To(Succeed())
+
 		// reconcile the MCP again
 		// expected outcome:
 		// - the mcp has conditions that reflect that all access requests are ready
@@ -867,4 +871,29 @@ var _ = Describe("ManagedControlPlane Controller", func() {
 		env.ShouldReconcile(mcpRec, testutils.RequestFromObject(mcp))
 	})
 
+	It("should requeue the MCP if its phase is not 'Ready', even if all accesses are ready", func() {
+		_, env := defaultTestSetup("testdata", "test-02")
+
+		mcp := &corev2alpha1.ManagedControlPlaneV2{}
+		mcp.SetName("mcp-01")
+		mcp.SetNamespace("test")
+		Expect(env.Client(onboarding).Get(env.Ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(mcp), mcp)).To(Succeed())
+
+		res := env.ShouldReconcile(mcpRec, testutils.RequestFromObject(mcp))
+		Expect(env.Client(onboarding).Get(env.Ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(mcp), mcp)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(mcp.Status.Conditions).To(ContainElements(
+			MatchCondition(TestCondition().
+				WithType("Cluster.Ready").
+				WithStatus(metav1.ConditionFalse)),
+			MatchCondition(TestCondition().
+				WithType(corev2alpha1.ConditionAllAccessReady).
+				WithStatus(metav1.ConditionTrue)),
+			MatchCondition(TestCondition().
+				WithType("AccessReady.token_viewer").
+				WithStatus(metav1.ConditionTrue)),
+		))
+		Expect(res.RequeueAfter).To(BeNumerically(">", 0))
+		Expect(res.RequeueAfter).To(BeNumerically("<", 1*time.Minute), "MCP has not been requeued")
+	})
+
 })
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/config.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d693772
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+managedControlPlane:
+  mcpClusterPurpose: mcp
+  reconcileMCPEveryXDays: 7
+  defaultOIDCProvider:
+    issuer: https://example.com/oidc
+    groupsPrefix: 'mygroups:'
+    usernamePrefix: 'myuser:'
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/onboarding/mcp-01.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/onboarding/mcp-01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7692f9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/onboarding/mcp-01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+apiVersion: core.openmcp.cloud/v2alpha1
+kind: ManagedControlPlaneV2
+metadata:
+  name: mcp-01
+  namespace: test
+  uid: 6aa4f8e1-a590-4fd7-b751-0b93f9f38bde
+spec:
+  iam:
+    tokens:
+      - name: viewer
+        permissions:
+          - rules:
+              - apiGroups: [ '' ]
+                resources: [ 'pods', 'services' ]
+                verbs: [ 'get', 'list', 'watch' ]
+status:
+  access:
+    token_viewer:
+      name: 6nilzexg
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/onboarding/mcp-access-secret-01.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/onboarding/mcp-access-secret-01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17bd2ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/onboarding/mcp-access-secret-01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+data:
+  kubeconfig: ZmFrZQ==
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    core.openmcp.cloud/mcp-name: mcp-01
+    core.openmcp.cloud/mcp-namespace: test
+    core.openmcp.cloud/token-provider: viewer
+    openmcp.cloud/managed-by: ManagedControlPlane
+  name: 6nilzexg
+  namespace: test
+  ownerReferences:
+  - apiVersion: core.openmcp.cloud/v2alpha1
+    blockOwnerDeletion: true
+    controller: true
+    kind: ManagedControlPlaneV2
+    name: mcp-01
+    uid: 6aa4f8e1-a590-4fd7-b751-0b93f9f38bde
+type: Opaque
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/ar-01.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/ar-01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02ef03f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/ar-01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+apiVersion: clusters.openmcp.cloud/v1alpha1
+kind: AccessRequest
+metadata:
+  finalizers:
+  - clusters.openmcp.cloud/finalizer
+  labels:
+    clusters.openmcp.cloud/profile: kind
+    clusters.openmcp.cloud/provider: kind
+    core.openmcp.cloud/mcp-name: mcp-01
+    core.openmcp.cloud/mcp-namespace: test
+    core.openmcp.cloud/token-provider: viewer
+    openmcp.cloud/managed-by: ManagedControlPlane
+  name: c73jfgp2
+  namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+  uid: 5ebc81b8-8d5a-4e57-9d7e-7ea4b915fcaf
+spec:
+  clusterRef:
+    name: mcp-12345
+    namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+  requestRef:
+    name: mcp-01
+    namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+  token:
+    permissions:
+    - rules:
+      - apiGroups:
+        - ""
+        resources:
+        - pods
+        - services
+        verbs:
+        - get
+        - list
+        - watch
+status:
+  observedGeneration: 2
+  phase: Granted
+  secretRef:
+    name: c73jfgp2.kubeconfig
+    namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/ar-secret-01.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/ar-secret-01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ea9d15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/ar-secret-01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  creationTimestamp: "2025-10-14T11:02:07Z"
+  name: c73jfgp2.kubeconfig
+  namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+  ownerReferences:
+  - apiVersion: clusters.openmcp.cloud/v1alpha1
+    kind: AccessRequest
+    name: c73jfgp2
+    uid: 5ebc81b8-8d5a-4e57-9d7e-7ea4b915fcaf
+  resourceVersion: "629926"
+  uid: b7c4bf8e-442f-4c54-8eff-b7b5e4a41a4d
+type: Opaque
+data:
+  kubeconfig: ZmFrZQ==
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/cluster-01.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/cluster-01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a013f3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/cluster-01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+apiVersion: clusters.openmcp.cloud/v1alpha1
+kind: Cluster
+metadata:
+  finalizers:
+  - request.clusters.openmcp.cloud/24143a57-be40-495e-96e2-4623e563a066
+  - clusters.openmcp.cloud/finalizer
+  generation: 1
+  labels:
+    clusters.openmcp.cloud/delete-without-requests: "true"
+  name: mcp-12345
+  namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+spec:
+  kubernetes: {}
+  profile: kind
+  purposes:
+  - mcp
+  tenancy: Exclusive
+status:
+  conditions:
+  - lastTransitionTime: "2025-09-22T08:23:32Z"
+    message: ""
+    reason: ClusterExists
+    status: "True"
+    type: KindReady
+  - lastTransitionTime: "2025-09-22T08:24:02Z"
+    message: ""
+    reason: AllPodsReady
+    status: "True"
+    type: MetalLBReady
+  - lastTransitionTime: "2025-09-22T08:24:02Z"
+    message: ""
+    reason: ClusterAndMetalLBReady
+    status: "False"
+    type: Ready
+  observedGeneration: 0
+  phase: Progressing
diff --git a/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/cr-01.yaml b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/cr-01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4984e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/controllers/managedcontrolplane/testdata/test-02/platform/cr-01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+apiVersion: clusters.openmcp.cloud/v1alpha1
+kind: ClusterRequest
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    core.openmcp.cloud/mcp-name: mcp-01
+    core.openmcp.cloud/mcp-namespace: test
+    openmcp.cloud/managed-by: ManagedControlPlane
+  name: mcp-01
+  namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+  uid: 24143a57-be40-495e-96e2-4623e563a066
+spec:
+  purpose: mcp
+  waitForClusterDeletion: true
+status:
+  cluster:
+    name: mcp-12345
+    namespace: mcp--ac6294ed-3227-8926-b364-f791fabdb843
+  observedGeneration: 1
+  phase: Granted