diff --git a/anax-in-k8s/cronjobs/auto-upgrade-cronjob.sh b/anax-in-k8s/cronjobs/auto-upgrade-cronjob.sh
index 23db77da5..3350b9846 100644
--- a/anax-in-k8s/cronjobs/auto-upgrade-cronjob.sh
+++ b/anax-in-k8s/cronjobs/auto-upgrade-cronjob.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 # Variables for interfacing with agent pod
 KUBECTL="kubectl"
-POD_ID=$($KUBECTL get pod -l app=agent -n ${AGENT_NAMESPACE} 2>/dev/null | grep "agent-" | cut -d " " -f1 2>/dev/null)
+POD_ID=$($KUBECTL get pod -l app=agent,type!=auto-upgrade-cronjob -n ${AGENT_NAMESPACE} 2>/dev/null | grep "agent-" | cut -d " " -f1 2>/dev/null)
 
 # Timeout value for agent deployment
 AGENT_DEPLOYMENT_STATUS_TIMEOUT_SECONDS='75'
@@ -47,10 +47,12 @@ AGENT_VERBOSITY=4
 
 # Get script flags (should never really run unless testing script manually)
 if [[ $AGENT_VERBOSITY -ge $VERB_DEBUG ]]; then echo $(now) "getopts begin"; fi
-while getopts "c:h" opt; do
+while getopts "c:h:l:" opt; do
     case $opt in
     h)  usage 0
         ;;
+    l)  AGENT_VERBOSITY="$OPTARG"
+        ;;
     \?) echo "Invalid option: -$OPTARG"
         usage 1
         ;;
@@ -416,22 +418,43 @@ function restart_agent_pod() {
 
 #====================== Main  ======================
 
-log_info "cronjob under namesapce: $AGENT_NAMESPACE"
+log_info "cronjob under namespace: $AGENT_NAMESPACE"
 
 # Sets STATUS_PATH for rest of script
 get_status_path
 
-# Check agent deployment/pod status and status.json
-pod_status=$($KUBECTL get pods ${POD_ID} --no-headers -o custom-columns=":status.phase")
+pod_status=$($KUBECTL get pods ${POD_ID} -n ${AGENT_NAMESPACE} --no-headers -o custom-columns=":status.phase" | sed -z  's/\n/ /g;s/ //g' )
 log_debug "Pod status: $pod_status"
+
+# Check deployment/pod status
+# Instantaneous state where both could be running.... 
+if [[ "${pod_status}" ==  "RunningRunning"  ]]; then
+    log_debug "Agent pod status is Running/Running; Exiting"
+    write_logs
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+log_info "Checking if there is any pending agent pod..."
+if [[ "$pod_status" == *Pending* ]]; then
+    log_info "Agent pod is still in pending. Keeping status as \"$CURRENT_STATUS\" and exiting."
+    write_logs
+    exit 0
+fi
+
 dep_status=$($KUBECTL rollout status deployment/agent -n ${AGENT_NAMESPACE} | awk '{ print $3 }' | sed 's/successfully/Running/g')
 log_debug "Deployment status: $dep_status"
-json_status=$(cat $STATUS_PATH | jq '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status' | sed 's/\"//g')
+
+if [[ ! -f $STATUS_PATH ]]; then
+    log_debug "status file $STATUS_PATH not exist, existing."
+    write_logs
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+json_status=$(cat $STATUS_PATH | jq '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status' | sed 's/\"//g') # directory will be deleted by NMP worker if the upgrade is successful
 log_debug "Cron Job status: $json_status"
 CURRENT_STATUS=$json_status
 panic_rollback=false
 
-# Check deployment/pod status
 log_info "Checking if agent is running and deployment is successful..."
 if [[ "$pod_status" != "Running" || "$dep_status" != "Running" ]]; then
     
@@ -445,7 +468,7 @@ if [[ "$pod_status" != "Running" || "$dep_status" != "Running" ]]; then
         if [[ ! -z "$dep_status" ]]; then
             log_info "Agent pod is running successfully"
             log_verbose "Setting the status to \"$STATUS_ROLLBACK_SUCCESSFUL\"..."
-	    echo $(jq --arg updated_status "$STATUS_ROLLBACK_SUCCESSFUL" '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status = $updated_status' $STATUS_PATH) > $STATUS_PATH
+	        echo $(jq --arg updated_status "$STATUS_ROLLBACK_SUCCESSFUL" '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status = $updated_status' $STATUS_PATH) > $STATUS_PATH
             write_logs
             exit 0
         else
@@ -478,7 +501,7 @@ elif [[ "$json_status" == "$STATUS_ROLLBACK_STARTED" ]]; then
     if [[ $rc -eq 0 && "$cmd_output" == *"nodeType"*"cluster"* ]]; then
         log_info "Agent pod is running successfully."
         log_verbose "Setting the status to \"$STATUS_ROLLBACK_SUCCESSFUL\"..."
-	echo $(jq --arg updated_status "$STATUS_ROLLBACK_SUCCESSFUL" '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status = $updated_status' $STATUS_PATH) > $STATUS_PATH
+	    echo $(jq --arg updated_status "$STATUS_ROLLBACK_SUCCESSFUL" '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status = $updated_status' $STATUS_PATH) > $STATUS_PATH
         write_logs
         exit 0
     fi
@@ -507,7 +530,7 @@ elif [[ "$json_status" == "$STATUS_INITIATED" ]]; then
     elif [[ "$old_image_version" == "null" || "$current_version" == "$old_image_version" ]]; then
         # set status to "failed"
         log_info "Agent pod is in panic state and the image version was not updated. Setting status to \"$ROLLBACK_FAILED\" and exiting."
-	echo $(jq --arg updated_status "$ROLLBACK_FAILED" '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status = $updated_status' $STATUS_PATH) > $STATUS_PATH
+	    echo $(jq --arg updated_status "$ROLLBACK_FAILED" '.agentUpgradePolicyStatus.status = $updated_status' $STATUS_PATH) > $STATUS_PATH
         log_debug "Output of \"hzn node list\": $cmd_output"
         write_logs
         log_fatal 1 "Agent pod is in panic state and the image version was not updated."
@@ -517,7 +540,7 @@ elif [[ "$json_status" == "$STATUS_INITIATED" ]]; then
         cmd_output=$(agent_cmd "hzn node list")
         log_info "Agent pod is in panic state. Rollback will be performed."
         log_debug "Output of \"hzn node list\": $cmd_output"
-	update_error_message "Agent pod is in panic state"
+	    update_error_message "Agent pod is in panic state"
     fi
 
     panic_rollback=true