diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 0b85d6d..ec02941 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ func main() {
 	if err = (&controller.CachedImageReconciler{
 		Client:       mgr.GetClient(),
 		Scheme:       mgr.GetScheme(),
-		PacingEngine: pacing.NewEngine(mgr.GetClient(), podNamespace),
+		PacingEngine: pacing.NewEngine(mgr.GetAPIReader(), podNamespace),
 		Recorder:     mgr.GetEventRecorder("cachedimage-controller"),
 		PodNamespace: podNamespace,
 	}).SetupWithManager(mgr); err != nil {
diff --git a/docs/go.mod b/docs/go.mod
index cc0eced..a8b9b26 100644
--- a/docs/go.mod
+++ b/docs/go.mod
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
 module github.com/corewire/drop/docs
 
 go 1.26.0
-
-require github.com/imfing/hextra v0.12.3 // indirect
diff --git a/docs/go.sum b/docs/go.sum
index afa8680..e69de29 100644
--- a/docs/go.sum
+++ b/docs/go.sum
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-github.com/imfing/hextra v0.12.3 h1:DZHY2rUWYteyzjlHi9r4n7Bb5e2Q+6LXe4C1Dqn0ZjM=
-github.com/imfing/hextra v0.12.3/go.mod h1:vi+yhpq8YPp/aghvJlNKVnJKcPJ/VyAEcfC1BSV9ARo=
diff --git a/internal/pacing/engine.go b/internal/pacing/engine.go
index 219cc93..598e777 100644
--- a/internal/pacing/engine.go
+++ b/internal/pacing/engine.go
@@ -21,13 +21,17 @@ type Decision struct {
 
 // Engine evaluates pacing constraints before creating new drop Pods.
 type Engine struct {
-	Client       client.Client
+	// Reader is used to list active pull Pods. It must bypass the informer cache
+	// (e.g. mgr.GetAPIReader()) so that pods created in the current reconcile
+	// cycle are visible to subsequent reconciles before the cache is updated.
+	Reader       client.Reader
 	PodNamespace string
 }
 
-// NewEngine creates a new pacing engine.
-func NewEngine(c client.Client, podNamespace string) *Engine {
-	return &Engine{Client: c, PodNamespace: podNamespace}
+// NewEngine creates a new pacing engine. reader should be a direct API-server
+// reader (mgr.GetAPIReader()) to avoid stale cache reads when counting active pods.
+func NewEngine(reader client.Reader, podNamespace string) *Engine {
+	return &Engine{Reader: reader, PodNamespace: podNamespace}
 }
 
 const (
@@ -74,7 +78,7 @@ func (e *Engine) PullSlots(ctx context.Context, policy *v1alpha1.PullPolicy, cac
 		client.InNamespace(ns),
 		client.MatchingLabels{podbuilder.LabelManagedBy: podbuilder.LabelManagedByValue},
 	}
-	if err := e.Client.List(ctx, podList, listOpts...); err != nil {
+	if err := e.Reader.List(ctx, podList, listOpts...); err != nil {
 		return Decision{}, err
 	}