diff --git a/controllerconfig/controllerconfig/upgrade-scripts/50-remove-calico-ipip.py b/controllerconfig/controllerconfig/upgrade-scripts/50-remove-calico-ipip.py
index 359cce8754..9afba4a7a0 100644
--- a/controllerconfig/controllerconfig/upgrade-scripts/50-remove-calico-ipip.py
+++ b/controllerconfig/controllerconfig/upgrade-scripts/50-remove-calico-ipip.py
@@ -37,11 +37,10 @@ def main():
                   '%(filename)s(%(lineno)s): %(levelname)s: %(message)s')
     LOG.basicConfig(filename="/var/log/software.log",
                     format=log_format, level=LOG.INFO, datefmt="%FT%T")
-
-    LOG.info("%s invoked from_release = %s to_release = %s action = %s"
-             % (sys.argv[0], from_release, to_release, action))
     res = 0
     if action == "activate" and from_release == '22.12':
+        LOG.info("%s invoked from_release = %s to_release = %s action = %s"
+                 % (sys.argv[0], from_release, to_release, action))
         try:
             res = do_update(from_release, to_release)
         except Exception as e:
@@ -52,19 +51,33 @@ def main():
 
 
 def do_update(from_release, to_release):
-    # Disable IPIP overlay by setting default IPv4 ippool's ipipMode to Never
-    LOG.info("Disabling Calico's IPIP tunnel")
-    cmd = (KUBE_CMD + "patch ippools.crd.projectcalico.org" +
-                      " default-ipv4-ippool" +
-                      " --type=merge -p '{\"spec\":{\"ipipMode\":\"Never\"}}'")
+    # Check if IPv4 IPIP pool exists
+    cmd = (KUBE_CMD + "get ippools.crd.projectcalico.org" +
+                      " --no-headers" +
+                      " -o custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name")
+    stdout, _ = run_cmd(cmd)
 
+    # Disable IPIP overlay by setting default IPv4 ippool's ipipMode to Never
+    if stdout.rstrip('\n') == "default-ipv4-ippool":
+        LOG.info("Disabling Calico's IPIP tunnel")
+        cmd = (KUBE_CMD + "patch ippools.crd.projectcalico.org" +
+                          " default-ipv4-ippool" +
+                          " --type=merge -p" +
+                          " '{\"spec\":{\"ipipMode\":\"Never\"}}'")
+        run_cmd(cmd)
+    else:
+        LOG.info("Skipping, default-ipv4-ippool not found")
+
+
+def run_cmd(cmd):
     sub = subprocess.Popen(cmd, shell=True,
                            stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
     stdout, stderr = sub.communicate()
     if sub.returncode != 0:
         LOG.error('Command failed:\n %s\n. %s\n%s\n'
                   % (cmd, stdout.decode('utf-8'), stderr.decode('utf-8')))
-        raise Exception('Cannot change default-ipv4-ippool')
+        raise Exception(f'Cannot run cmd: "{cmd}"')
+    return stdout.decode('utf-8'), stderr.decode('utf-8')
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":