diff --git a/components/ws-manager-mk2/controllers/create.go b/components/ws-manager-mk2/controllers/create.go
index 9b2a80a339c0e5..57e8d059a06f3a 100644
--- a/components/ws-manager-mk2/controllers/create.go
+++ b/components/ws-manager-mk2/controllers/create.go
@@ -565,6 +565,14 @@ func createWorkspaceEnvironment(sctx *startWorkspaceContext) ([]corev1.EnvVar, e
 		allRepoRoots[i] = getWorkspaceRelativePath(root)
 	}
 
+	// Can't read the workspace URL from status yet, as the status likely hasn't
+	// been set by the controller yet at this point. Therefore, manually construct
+	// the URL to pass to the container env.
+	wsUrl, err := config.RenderWorkspaceURL(sctx.Config.WorkspaceURLTemplate, sctx.Workspace.Name, sctx.Workspace.Spec.Ownership.WorkspaceID, sctx.Config.GitpodHostURL)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot render workspace URL: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	// Envs that start with GITPOD_ are appended to the Terminal environments
 	result := []corev1.EnvVar{}
 	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "GITPOD_REPO_ROOT", Value: allRepoRoots[0]})
@@ -575,7 +583,7 @@ func createWorkspaceEnvironment(sctx *startWorkspaceContext) ([]corev1.EnvVar, e
 	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "GITPOD_THEIA_PORT", Value: strconv.Itoa(int(sctx.IDEPort))})
 	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "THEIA_WORKSPACE_ROOT", Value: getWorkspaceRelativePath(sctx.Workspace.Spec.WorkspaceLocation)})
 	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "GITPOD_HOST", Value: sctx.Config.GitpodHostURL})
-	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "GITPOD_WORKSPACE_URL", Value: sctx.Workspace.Status.URL})
+	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "GITPOD_WORKSPACE_URL", Value: wsUrl})
 	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "GITPOD_WORKSPACE_CLUSTER_HOST", Value: sctx.Config.WorkspaceClusterHost})
 	result = append(result, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "THEIA_SUPERVISOR_ENDPOINT", Value: fmt.Sprintf(":%d", sctx.SupervisorPort)})
 	// TODO(ak) remove THEIA_WEBVIEW_EXTERNAL_ENDPOINT and THEIA_MINI_BROWSER_HOST_PATTERN when Theia is removed
@@ -703,6 +711,9 @@ func newStartWorkspaceContext(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Configuration, ws
 	span, _ := tracing.FromContext(ctx, "newStartWorkspaceContext")
 	defer tracing.FinishSpan(span, &err)
 
+	// Can't read ws.Status yet at this point (to e.g. get the headless status),
+	// as it very likely hasn't been set yet by the controller.
+	isHeadless := ws.Spec.Type != workspacev1.WorkspaceTypeRegular
 	return &startWorkspaceContext{
 		Labels: map[string]string{
 			"app":                  "gitpod",
@@ -711,13 +722,13 @@ func newStartWorkspaceContext(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Configuration, ws
 			wsk8s.OwnerLabel:       ws.Spec.Ownership.Owner,
 			wsk8s.TypeLabel:        strings.ToLower(string(ws.Spec.Type)),
 			instanceIDLabel:        ws.Name,
-			headlessLabel:          strconv.FormatBool(ws.Status.Headless),
+			headlessLabel:          strconv.FormatBool(isHeadless),
 		},
 		Config:         cfg,
 		Workspace:      ws,
 		IDEPort:        23000,
 		SupervisorPort: 22999,
-		Headless:       ws.Status.Headless,
+		Headless:       isHeadless,
 	}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/components/ws-manager-mk2/main.go b/components/ws-manager-mk2/main.go
index 024851dd8bcc00..f1a518ccdc12e9 100644
--- a/components/ws-manager-mk2/main.go
+++ b/components/ws-manager-mk2/main.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func main() {
 		Port:                   9443,
 		HealthProbeBindAddress: cfg.Health.Addr,
 		LeaderElection:         enableLeaderElection,
-		LeaderElectionID:       "ws-manager-mk2.gitpod.io",
+		LeaderElectionID:       "ws-manager-mk2-leader.gitpod.io",
 		Namespace:              cfg.Manager.Namespace,
 	})
 	if err != nil {