diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/controller/finalizers.go b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/controller/finalizers.go
index 18f00c17c40..d9c41ee4c15 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/controller/finalizers.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/controller/finalizers.go
@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@ func (f *finalizer) processExistingItems(
 			Group:    item.Group,
 			Resource: item.Resource,
 		})
-		logger.Error("error getting client for resource", "resource", item.Resource, "error", err)
 		if err != nil {
+			logger.Error("error getting client for resource", "resource", item.Resource, "error", err)
 			return count, err
 		}