diff --git a/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client.go b/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client.go
index dd62e6131..8cfd1a6e6 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client.go
+++ b/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client.go
@@ -150,6 +150,19 @@ func newClientImpl(clientset kubernetes.Interface) *clientWrapper {
 
 // WatchAll starts namespace-specific controllers for all relevant kinds.
 func (c *clientWrapper) WatchAll(namespaces []string, stopCh <-chan struct{}) (<-chan interface{}, error) {
+	// Get and store the serverVersion for future use.
+	serverVersionInfo, err := c.clientset.Discovery().ServerVersion()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not retrieve server version: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	serverVersion, err := version.NewVersion(serverVersionInfo.GitVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not parse server version: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	c.serverVersion = serverVersion
+
 	eventCh := make(chan interface{}, 1)
 	eventHandler := &resourceEventHandler{eventCh}
 
@@ -209,18 +222,6 @@ func (c *clientWrapper) WatchAll(namespaces []string, stopCh <-chan struct{}) (<
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Get and store the serverVersion for future use.
-	serverVersionInfo, err := c.clientset.Discovery().ServerVersion()
-	if err != nil {
-		return eventCh, fmt.Errorf("could not retrieve server version: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	serverVersion, err := version.NewVersion(serverVersionInfo.GitVersion)
-	if err != nil {
-		return eventCh, fmt.Errorf("could not parse server version: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	c.serverVersion = serverVersion
 	if supportsIngressClass(serverVersion) {
 		c.clusterFactory = informers.NewSharedInformerFactoryWithOptions(c.clientset, resyncPeriod)
 		c.clusterFactory.Networking().V1beta1().IngressClasses().Informer().AddEventHandler(eventHandler)
diff --git a/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client_test.go b/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client_test.go
index 0c8ebc299..28d0431ce 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client_test.go
+++ b/pkg/provider/kubernetes/ingress/client_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package ingress
 
 import (
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -12,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	kubeerror "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/version"
+	fakediscovery "k8s.io/client-go/discovery/fake"
 	kubefake "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
 )
 
@@ -150,13 +151,21 @@ func TestClientIgnoresHelmOwnedSecrets(t *testing.T) {
 
 	kubeClient := kubefake.NewSimpleClientset(helmSecret, secret)
 
+	fakeDiscovery, ok := kubeClient.Discovery().(*fakediscovery.FakeDiscovery)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("couldn't convert Discovery() to *FakeDiscovery")
+	}
+
+	fakeDiscovery.FakedServerVersion = &version.Info{
+		GitVersion: "1.17.0",
+	}
+
 	client := newClientImpl(kubeClient)
 
 	stopCh := make(chan struct{})
 
 	eventCh, err := client.WatchAll(nil, stopCh)
-	// Fake clientset always returns this exact serverVersion that fails our validation.
-	require.Error(t, errors.New(`could not parse server version: Malformed version: v0.0.0-master+$Format:%h$`), err)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	select {
 	case event := <-eventCh: