diff --git a/multicluster/cmd/service-mirror/main.go b/multicluster/cmd/service-mirror/main.go
index 8e34b40d63083..614df04192828 100644
--- a/multicluster/cmd/service-mirror/main.go
+++ b/multicluster/cmd/service-mirror/main.go
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ func restartClusterWatcher(
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unable to parse kube config: %w", err)
 	}
-	clusterWatcher, err = servicemirror.NewRemoteClusterServiceWatcher(
+	cw, err := servicemirror.NewRemoteClusterServiceWatcher(
 		ctx,
 		namespace,
 		controllerK8sAPI,
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ func restartClusterWatcher(
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create cluster watcher: %w", err)
 	}
+	clusterWatcher = cw
 	err = clusterWatcher.Start(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to start cluster watcher: %w", err)
diff --git a/multicluster/service-mirror/cluster_watcher.go b/multicluster/service-mirror/cluster_watcher.go
index 13c766f645999..7e387ec8f9b50 100644
--- a/multicluster/service-mirror/cluster_watcher.go
+++ b/multicluster/service-mirror/cluster_watcher.go
@@ -173,6 +173,11 @@ func NewRemoteClusterServiceWatcher(
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot initialize api for target cluster %s: %w", clusterName, err)
 	}
+	_, err = remoteAPI.Client.Discovery().ServerVersion()
+	if err != nil {
+		remoteAPI.UnregisterGauges()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot connect to api for target cluster %s: %w", clusterName, err)
+	}
 
 	// Create k8s event recorder
 	eventBroadcaster := record.NewBroadcaster()
@@ -184,7 +189,7 @@ func NewRemoteClusterServiceWatcher(
 	})
 
 	stopper := make(chan struct{})
-	rcsw := RemoteClusterServiceWatcher{
+	return &RemoteClusterServiceWatcher{
 		serviceMirrorNamespace: serviceMirrorNamespace,
 		link:                   link,
 		remoteAPIClient:        remoteAPI,
@@ -203,14 +208,7 @@ func NewRemoteClusterServiceWatcher(
 		headlessServicesEnabled: enableHeadlessSvc,
 		// always instantiate the gatewayAlive=true to prevent unexpected service fail fast
 		gatewayAlive: true,
-	}
-
-	_, err = remoteAPI.Client.Discovery().ServerVersion()
-	if err != nil {
-		return &rcsw, fmt.Errorf("cannot connect to api for target cluster %s: %w", clusterName, err)
-	}
-
-	return &rcsw, nil
+	}, nil
 }
 
 func (rcsw *RemoteClusterServiceWatcher) mirroredResourceName(remoteName string) string {
@@ -1271,3 +1269,4 @@ func (rcsw *RemoteClusterServiceWatcher) isRemoteDiscovery(l map[string]string)
 
 	return remoteDiscoverySelector.Matches(labels.Set(l))
 }
+