diff --git a/packages/manager/.changeset/pr-11683-changed-1739919225511.md b/packages/manager/.changeset/pr-11683-changed-1739919225511.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c789094f794
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/manager/.changeset/pr-11683-changed-1739919225511.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@linode/manager": Changed
+---
+
+Improve error handling for kubeconfig download during cluster provisioning ([#11683](https://github.com/linode/manager/pull/11683))
diff --git a/packages/manager/src/features/Kubernetes/KubernetesClusterDetail/KubeConfigDisplay.tsx b/packages/manager/src/features/Kubernetes/KubernetesClusterDetail/KubeConfigDisplay.tsx
index e270635a9be..da758c3c2c7 100644
--- a/packages/manager/src/features/Kubernetes/KubernetesClusterDetail/KubeConfigDisplay.tsx
+++ b/packages/manager/src/features/Kubernetes/KubernetesClusterDetail/KubeConfigDisplay.tsx
@@ -156,16 +156,36 @@ export const KubeConfigDisplay = (props: Props) => {
 
   const downloadKubeConfig = async () => {
     try {
-      const { data } = await getKubeConfig();
+      const queryResult = await getKubeConfig();
+
+      if (
+        Array.isArray(queryResult.error) &&
+        queryResult.error[0]?.reason?.includes(
+          'kubeconfig is not yet available'
+        )
+      ) {
+        enqueueSnackbar(
+          'Your cluster is still provisioning. Please try again in a few minutes.',
+          { variant: 'error' }
+        );
+        return;
+      }
 
-      if (data) {
-        downloadFile(`${clusterLabel}-kubeconfig.yaml`, data);
+      if (queryResult.isError) {
+        throw queryResult.error;
       }
+
+      if (!queryResult.data) {
+        throw new Error('No kubeconfig data available');
+      }
+
+      downloadFile(`${clusterLabel}-kubeconfig.yaml`, queryResult.data);
     } catch (error) {
-      const errorText = getAPIErrorOrDefault(
-        error,
-        'Unable to download your kubeconfig'
-      )[0].reason;
+      const errorText =
+        error instanceof Error
+          ? error.message
+          : getAPIErrorOrDefault(error, 'Unable to download your kubeconfig')[0]
+              .reason;
 
       enqueueSnackbar(errorText, { variant: 'error' });
     }
diff --git a/packages/manager/src/queries/kubernetes.ts b/packages/manager/src/queries/kubernetes.ts
index 72ad7db05a4..fcd54276163 100644
--- a/packages/manager/src/queries/kubernetes.ts
+++ b/packages/manager/src/queries/kubernetes.ts
@@ -85,8 +85,53 @@ export const kubernetesQueries = createQueryKeys('kubernetes', {
       },
       kubeconfig: {
         queryFn: async () => {
-          const result = await getKubeConfig(id);
-          return window.atob(result.kubeconfig);
+          try {
+            const result = await getKubeConfig(id);
+            if (!result || !result.kubeconfig) {
+              throw [{ reason: 'Invalid KubeConfig response' } as APIError];
+            }
+
+            let decodedKubeConfig;
+            try {
+              decodedKubeConfig = window.atob(result.kubeconfig);
+            } catch (decodeError) {
+              throw [{ reason: 'Failed to decode KubeConfig' } as APIError];
+            }
+            return decodedKubeConfig;
+          } catch (error) {
+            const err = error as {
+              response?: { status?: number };
+              reason?: string;
+            };
+            const serviceUnavailableStatus = 503;
+            if (
+              err?.response?.status === serviceUnavailableStatus ||
+              (Array.isArray(err) &&
+                err[0]?.reason?.includes('kubeconfig is not yet available'))
+            ) {
+              // Custom error to identify when KubeConfig is still provisioning
+              const notReadyError = [
+                {
+                  reason:
+                    'Cluster kubeconfig is not yet available. Please try again later.',
+                } as APIError & { isKubeConfigNotReady: true },
+              ];
+
+              notReadyError[0].isKubeConfigNotReady = true;
+
+              throw notReadyError;
+            }
+
+            if (Array.isArray(error)) {
+              throw error;
+            }
+
+            if (error instanceof Error) {
+              throw [{ reason: error.message } as APIError];
+            }
+
+            throw [{ reason: 'An unexpected error occurred' } as APIError];
+          }
         },
         queryKey: null,
       },
@@ -211,7 +256,13 @@ export const useKubernetesKubeConfigQuery = (
   useQuery<string, APIError[]>({
     ...kubernetesQueries.cluster(clusterId)._ctx.kubeconfig,
     enabled,
-    retry: 3,
+    retry: (failureCount, error: any) => {
+      // Skip retries when cluster is still provisioning
+      if (Array.isArray(error) && error[0]?.isKubeConfigNotReady) {
+        return false;
+      }
+      return failureCount < 3;
+    },
     retryDelay: 5000,
     // Disable stale time to prevent caching of the kubeconfig
     // because it can take some time for config to get updated in the API