diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 47962f7af4..496334d1f4 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -147,24 +147,25 @@ func main() {
 	var md metadata.MetadataService
 	var metadataErr error
 
-	if region == "" {
-		klog.V(5).InfoS("[Debug] Retrieving region from metadata service")
-		md, metadataErr = metadata.NewMetadataService(cfg, region)
-		if metadataErr != nil {
-			klog.ErrorS(metadataErr, "Could not determine region from any metadata service. The region can be manually supplied via the AWS_REGION environment variable.")
-			panic(metadataErr)
+	if region != "" {
+		klog.InfoS("Region provided via AWS_REGION environment variable", "region", region)
+		if options.Mode != driver.ControllerMode {
+			klog.InfoS("Node service requires metadata even if AWS_REGION provided, initializing metadata")
+			md, metadataErr = metadata.NewMetadataService(cfg, region)
 		}
-		region = md.GetRegion()
+	} else {
+		klog.InfoS("Initializing metadata")
+		md, metadataErr = metadata.NewMetadataService(cfg, region)
 	}
 
-	if md == nil {
-		if options.Mode == driver.NodeMode || options.Mode == driver.AllMode {
-			md, metadataErr = metadata.NewMetadataService(cfg, region)
-			if metadataErr != nil {
-				klog.ErrorS(metadataErr, "failed to initialize metadata service")
-				klog.FlushAndExit(klog.ExitFlushTimeout, 1)
-			}
+	if metadataErr != nil {
+		klog.ErrorS(metadataErr, "Failed to initialize metadata when it is required")
+		if options.Mode == driver.ControllerMode {
+			klog.InfoS("The region can be manually supplied via the AWS_REGION environment variable")
 		}
+		klog.FlushAndExit(klog.ExitFlushTimeout, 1)
+	} else if region == "" {
+		region = md.GetRegion()
 	}
 
 	cloud, err := cloud.NewCloud(region, options.AwsSdkDebugLog, options.UserAgentExtra, options.Batching)
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/metadata/ec2.go b/pkg/cloud/metadata/ec2.go
index a0a365b9d6..c35c3c4054 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/metadata/ec2.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/metadata/ec2.go
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ var DefaultEC2MetadataClient = func() (EC2Metadata, error) {
 
 func EC2MetadataInstanceInfo(svc EC2Metadata, regionFromSession string) (*Metadata, error) {
 	docOutput, err := svc.GetInstanceIdentityDocument(context.Background(), &imds.GetInstanceIdentityDocumentInput{})
-	klog.InfoS("Retrieving EC2 instance identity metadata", "regionFromSession", regionFromSession)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get EC2 instance identity metadata: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata.go b/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata.go
index 2b81e9e445..1497a9944b 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata.go
@@ -45,18 +45,19 @@ var _ MetadataService = &Metadata{}
 func NewMetadataService(cfg MetadataServiceConfig, region string) (MetadataService, error) {
 	metadata, err := retrieveEC2Metadata(cfg.EC2MetadataClient, region)
 	if err == nil {
-		klog.InfoS("ec2 metadata is available")
-		return metadata, nil
+		klog.InfoS("Retrieved metadata from IMDS")
+		return metadata.overrideRegion(region), nil
 	}
+	klog.ErrorS(err, "Retrieving IMDS metadata failed, falling back to Kubernetes metadata")
 
-	klog.InfoS("failed to retrieve instance data from ec2 metadata; retrieving instance data from kubernetes api", "err", err)
 	metadata, err = retrieveK8sMetadata(cfg.K8sAPIClient)
 	if err == nil {
-		klog.InfoS("kubernetes api is available")
-		return metadata, nil
+		klog.InfoS("Retrieved metadata from Kubernetes")
+		return metadata.overrideRegion(region), nil
 	}
+	klog.ErrorS(err, "Retrieving Kubernetes metadata failed")
 
-	return nil, fmt.Errorf("error getting instance data from ec2 metadata or kubernetes api")
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("IMDS metadata and Kubernetes metadata are both unavailable")
 }
 
 func retrieveEC2Metadata(ec2MetadataClient EC2MetadataClient, region string) (*Metadata, error) {
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ func retrieveEC2Metadata(ec2MetadataClient EC2MetadataClient, region string) (*M
 
 	svc, err := ec2MetadataClient()
 	if err != nil {
-		klog.ErrorS(err, "Failed to initialize EC2 Metadata client")
+		klog.ErrorS(err, "failed to initialize EC2 Metadata client")
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return EC2MetadataInstanceInfo(svc, region)
@@ -76,13 +77,20 @@ func retrieveEC2Metadata(ec2MetadataClient EC2MetadataClient, region string) (*M
 func retrieveK8sMetadata(k8sAPIClient KubernetesAPIClient) (*Metadata, error) {
 	clientset, err := k8sAPIClient()
 	if err != nil {
-		klog.InfoS("error creating kubernetes api client", "err", err)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	return KubernetesAPIInstanceInfo(clientset)
 }
 
+// Override the region on a Metadata object if it is non-empty
+func (m *Metadata) overrideRegion(region string) *Metadata {
+	if region != "" {
+		m.Region = region
+	}
+	return m
+}
+
 // GetInstanceID returns the instance identification.
 func (m *Metadata) GetInstanceID() string {
 	return m.InstanceID
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata_test.go b/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata_test.go
index 31fbe7a013..7fb66ea610 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/metadata/metadata_test.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func TestNewMetadataService(t *testing.T) {
 			region:           "us-west-2",
 			ec2MetadataError: errors.New("EC2 metadata error"),
 			k8sAPIError:      errors.New("K8s API error"),
-			expectedError:    errors.New("error getting instance data from ec2 metadata or kubernetes api"),
+			expectedError:    errors.New("IMDS metadata and Kubernetes metadata are both unavailable"),
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/driver/node.go b/pkg/driver/node.go
index 3ea04dc4ac..a088ce3b41 100644
--- a/pkg/driver/node.go
+++ b/pkg/driver/node.go
@@ -92,10 +92,6 @@ type NodeService struct {
 
 // NewNodeService creates a new node service
 func NewNodeService(o *Options, md metadata.MetadataService, m mounter.Mounter, k kubernetes.Interface) *NodeService {
-	klog.V(5).InfoS("[Debug] Retrieving node info from metadata service")
-	region := os.Getenv("AWS_REGION")
-	klog.InfoS("regionFromSession Node service", "region", region)
-
 	if k != nil {
 		// Remove taint from node to indicate driver startup success
 		// This is done at the last possible moment to prevent race conditions or false positive removals