diff --git a/internal/planner/planner.go b/internal/planner/planner.go
index fa601eb3..19dfd6e0 100644
--- a/internal/planner/planner.go
+++ b/internal/planner/planner.go
@@ -75,8 +75,13 @@ func GeneratePlan(
 		ScaleDeployments: make(map[*corev1.ObjectReference]uint32),
 	}
 
+	// If Deployment was not found in temporal, which always happens on the first worker deployment version
+	// and sometimes happens transiently thereafter, the versions list will be empty. If the deployment
+	// exists and was found, there will always be at least one version in the list.
+	foundDeploymentInTemporal := temporalState != nil && len(temporalState.Versions) > 0
+
 	// Add delete/scale operations based on version status
-	plan.DeleteDeployments = getDeleteDeployments(k8sState, status, spec)
+	plan.DeleteDeployments = getDeleteDeployments(k8sState, status, spec, foundDeploymentInTemporal)
 	plan.ScaleDeployments = getScaleDeployments(k8sState, status, spec)
 	plan.ShouldCreateDeployment = shouldCreateDeployment(status, maxVersionsIneligibleForDeletion)
 	plan.UpdateDeployments = getUpdateDeployments(k8sState, status, connection)
@@ -191,6 +196,7 @@ func getDeleteDeployments(
 	k8sState *k8s.DeploymentState,
 	status *temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentStatus,
 	spec *temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentSpec,
+	foundDeploymentInTemporal bool,
 ) []*appsv1.Deployment {
 	var deleteDeployments []*appsv1.Deployment
 
@@ -215,9 +221,11 @@ func getDeleteDeployments(
 				deleteDeployments = append(deleteDeployments, d)
 			}
 		case temporaliov1alpha1.VersionStatusNotRegistered:
-			// NotRegistered versions are versions that the server doesn't know about.
-			// Only delete if it's not the target version.
-			if status.TargetVersion.BuildID != version.BuildID {
+			// Only delete Deployments of NotRegistered versions if temporalState was not empty
+			if foundDeploymentInTemporal &&
+				// NotRegistered versions are versions that the server doesn't know about.
+				// Only delete if it's not the target version.
+				status.TargetVersion.BuildID != version.BuildID {
 				deleteDeployments = append(deleteDeployments, d)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/internal/planner/planner_test.go b/internal/planner/planner_test.go
index c86f60d4..ccc62469 100644
--- a/internal/planner/planner_test.go
+++ b/internal/planner/planner_test.go
@@ -426,12 +426,13 @@ func TestGeneratePlan(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestGetDeleteDeployments(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
-		name          string
-		k8sState      *k8s.DeploymentState
-		status        *temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentStatus
-		spec          *temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentSpec
-		config        *Config
-		expectDeletes int
+		name                      string
+		k8sState                  *k8s.DeploymentState
+		status                    *temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentStatus
+		spec                      *temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentSpec
+		config                    *Config
+		expectDeletes             int
+		foundDeploymentInTemporal bool
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "drained version should be deleted",
@@ -463,7 +464,8 @@ func TestGetDeleteDeployments(t *testing.T) {
 			config: &Config{
 				RolloutStrategy: temporaliov1alpha1.RolloutStrategy{},
 			},
-			expectDeletes: 1,
+			expectDeletes:             1,
+			foundDeploymentInTemporal: true,
 		},
 		{
 			name: "not yet drained long enough",
@@ -492,7 +494,8 @@ func TestGetDeleteDeployments(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				Replicas: func() *int32 { r := int32(1); return &r }(),
 			},
-			expectDeletes: 0,
+			expectDeletes:             0,
+			foundDeploymentInTemporal: true,
 		},
 		{
 			name: "not registered version should be deleted",
@@ -523,7 +526,40 @@ func TestGetDeleteDeployments(t *testing.T) {
 			spec: &temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentSpec{
 				Replicas: func() *int32 { r := int32(1); return &r }(),
 			},
-			expectDeletes: 1,
+			expectDeletes:             1,
+			foundDeploymentInTemporal: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "not registered version should NOT be deleted, deployment not found in temporal",
+			k8sState: &k8s.DeploymentState{
+				Deployments: map[string]*appsv1.Deployment{
+					"123": createDeploymentWithDefaultConnectionSpecHash(1),
+					"456": createDeploymentWithDefaultConnectionSpecHash(1),
+				},
+			},
+			status: &temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentStatus{
+				TargetVersion: temporaliov1alpha1.TargetWorkerDeploymentVersion{
+					BaseWorkerDeploymentVersion: temporaliov1alpha1.BaseWorkerDeploymentVersion{
+						BuildID:    "123",
+						Status:     temporaliov1alpha1.VersionStatusCurrent,
+						Deployment: &corev1.ObjectReference{Name: "test-123"},
+					},
+				},
+				DeprecatedVersions: []*temporaliov1alpha1.DeprecatedWorkerDeploymentVersion{
+					{
+						BaseWorkerDeploymentVersion: temporaliov1alpha1.BaseWorkerDeploymentVersion{
+							BuildID:    "456",
+							Status:     temporaliov1alpha1.VersionStatusNotRegistered,
+							Deployment: &corev1.ObjectReference{Name: "test-456"},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			spec: &temporaliov1alpha1.TemporalWorkerDeploymentSpec{
+				Replicas: func() *int32 { r := int32(1); return &r }(),
+			},
+			expectDeletes:             0,
+			foundDeploymentInTemporal: false,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -531,7 +567,7 @@ func TestGetDeleteDeployments(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			err := tc.spec.Default(context.Background())
 			require.NoError(t, err)
-			deletes := getDeleteDeployments(tc.k8sState, tc.status, tc.spec)
+			deletes := getDeleteDeployments(tc.k8sState, tc.status, tc.spec, tc.foundDeploymentInTemporal)
 			assert.Equal(t, tc.expectDeletes, len(deletes), "unexpected number of deletes")
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/internal/temporal/worker_deployment.go b/internal/temporal/worker_deployment.go
index 858b8a6c..7c681fe9 100644
--- a/internal/temporal/worker_deployment.go
+++ b/internal/temporal/worker_deployment.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func GetWorkerDeploymentState(
 	if err != nil {
 		var notFound *serviceerror.NotFound
 		if errors.As(err, &notFound) {
-			// If deployment not found, return empty state
+			// If deployment not found, return empty state. Need to scale up workers in order to create Deployment Temporal-side
 			return state, nil
 		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to describe worker deployment %s: %w", workerDeploymentName, err)