diff --git a/pkg/cluster/managed.go b/pkg/cluster/managed.go
index d6c668998a..b0e6f71861 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/managed.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/managed.go
@@ -91,7 +91,9 @@ func (c *Cluster) start(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return c.managedDB.Start(ctx, c.clientAccessInfo)
 }
 
-// registerDBHandlers registers routes for database info with the http request handler
+// registerDBHandlers registers managed-datastore-specific callbacks, and installs additional HTTP route handlers.
+// Note that for etcd, controllers only run on nodes with a local apiserver, in order to provide stable external
+// management of etcd cluster membership without being disrupted when a member is removed from the cluster.
 func (c *Cluster) registerDBHandlers(handler http.Handler) (http.Handler, error) {
 	if c.managedDB == nil {
 		return handler, nil
diff --git a/pkg/etcd/etcd.go b/pkg/etcd/etcd.go
index abf142a908..e923e10519 100644
--- a/pkg/etcd/etcd.go
+++ b/pkg/etcd/etcd.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	certutil "github.com/rancher/dynamiclistener/cert"
 	controllerv1 "github.com/rancher/wrangler/pkg/generated/controllers/core/v1"
+	"github.com/rancher/wrangler/pkg/start"
 	"github.com/robfig/cron/v3"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3/etcdserverpb"
@@ -619,6 +620,12 @@ func (e *ETCD) Register(handler http.Handler) (http.Handler, error) {
 			registerEndpointsHandlers(ctx, e)
 			registerMemberHandlers(ctx, e)
 			registerSnapshotHandlers(ctx, e)
+
+			// Re-run informer factory startup after core and leader-elected controllers have started.
+			// Additional caches may need to start for the newly added OnChange/OnRemove callbacks.
+			if err := start.All(ctx, 5, e.config.Runtime.K3s, e.config.Runtime.Core); err != nil {
+				panic(errors.Wrap(err, "failed to start wrangler controllers"))
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/server/server.go b/pkg/server/server.go
index 0ccaa49f91..a13d2caf05 100644
--- a/pkg/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/server/server.go
@@ -167,8 +167,8 @@ func apiserverControllers(ctx context.Context, sc *Context, config *Config) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Re-run context startup after core and leader-elected controllers have started. Additional
-	// informer caches may need to start for the newly added OnChange callbacks.
+	// Re-run informer factory startup after core and leader-elected controllers have started.
+	// Additional caches may need to start for the newly added OnChange/OnRemove callbacks.
 	if err := sc.Start(ctx); err != nil {
 		panic(errors.Wrap(err, "failed to start wranger controllers"))
 	}