diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/utils/pod_manager.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/utils/pod_manager.py
index ec593f4d573c5..76ee44ae9c7da 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/utils/pod_manager.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/src/airflow/providers/cncf/kubernetes/utils/pod_manager.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from kubernetes.client.models.core_v1_event_list import CoreV1EventList
+    from kubernetes.client.models.v1_container_state import V1ContainerState
+    from kubernetes.client.models.v1_container_state_waiting import V1ContainerStateWaiting
     from kubernetes.client.models.v1_container_status import V1ContainerStatus
     from kubernetes.client.models.v1_pod import V1Pod
     from kubernetes.client.models.v1_pod_condition import V1PodCondition
@@ -424,6 +426,19 @@ def await_pod_start(
                         f"Pod took too long to be scheduled on the cluster, giving up. More than {schedule_timeout}s. Check the pod events in kubernetes."
                     )
 
+            # Check for general problems to terminate early - ErrImagePull
+            if pod_status.container_statuses:
+                for container_status in pod_status.container_statuses:
+                    container_state: V1ContainerState = container_status.state
+                    container_waiting: V1ContainerStateWaiting | None = container_state.waiting
+                    if container_waiting:
+                        if container_waiting.reason in ["ErrImagePull", "InvalidImageName"]:
+                            self.log.info("::endgroup::")
+                            raise PodLaunchFailedException(
+                                f"Pod docker image cannot be pulled, unable to start: {container_waiting.reason}"
+                                f"\n{container_waiting.message}"
+                            )
+
             time.sleep(check_interval)
 
     def fetch_container_logs(
diff --git a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/tests/unit/cncf/kubernetes/utils/test_pod_manager.py b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/tests/unit/cncf/kubernetes/utils/test_pod_manager.py
index e6f99e62ed40a..c682310fba1cf 100644
--- a/providers/cncf/kubernetes/tests/unit/cncf/kubernetes/utils/test_pod_manager.py
+++ b/providers/cncf/kubernetes/tests/unit/cncf/kubernetes/utils/test_pod_manager.py
@@ -423,6 +423,26 @@ def test_start_pod_raises_informative_error_on_startup_timeout(self):
                 startup_timeout=0,
             )
 
+    def test_start_pod_raises_fast_error_on_image_error(self):
+        pod_response = mock.MagicMock()
+        pod_response.status.phase = "Pending"
+        container_statuse = mock.MagicMock()
+        waiting_state = mock.MagicMock()
+        waiting_state.reason = "ErrImagePull"
+        waiting_state.message = "Test error"
+        container_statuse.state.waiting = waiting_state
+        pod_response.status.container_statuses = [container_statuse]
+
+        self.mock_kube_client.read_namespaced_pod.return_value = pod_response
+        expected_msg = f"Pod docker image cannot be pulled, unable to start: {waiting_state.reason}\n{waiting_state.message}"
+        mock_pod = MagicMock()
+        with pytest.raises(AirflowException, match=expected_msg):
+            self.pod_manager.await_pod_start(
+                pod=mock_pod,
+                schedule_timeout=60,
+                startup_timeout=60,
+            )
+
     @mock.patch("airflow.providers.cncf.kubernetes.utils.pod_manager.time.sleep")
     def test_start_pod_startup_interval_seconds(self, mock_time_sleep, caplog):
         condition_scheduled = mock.MagicMock()