diff --git a/pkg/controllers/provisioning/batcher.go b/pkg/controllers/provisioning/batcher.go
index 1f6ef7c72cb2..729c6957d9a1 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/provisioning/batcher.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/provisioning/batcher.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	MaxBatchDuration = time.Second * 10
+	MaxBatchDuration  = time.Second * 10
 	BatchIdleDuration = time.Second * 1
 	// MaxItemsPerBatch limits the number of items we process at one time to avoid using too much memory
 	MaxItemsPerBatch = 2_000
@@ -52,17 +52,20 @@ func NewBatcher(running context.Context) *Batcher {
 // Add an item to the batch, returning the next gate which the caller may block
 // on. The gate is protected by a read-write mutex, and may be modified by
 // Flush(), which makes a new gate.
-func (b *Batcher) Add(ctx context.Context, item interface{}) <-chan struct{} {
-	b.RLock()
-	defer b.RUnlock()
+//
+// In rare scenarios, if a goroutine hangs after enqueueing but before acquiring
+// the gate lock, the batch could be flushed, resulting in the pod waiting on
+// the next gate. This will be flushed on the next batch, and may result in
+// delayed retries for the individual pod if the provisioning loop fails. In
+// practice, this won't be encountered because this time window is O(seconds).
+func (b *Batcher) Add(item interface{}) <-chan struct{} {
 	select {
 	case b.queue <- item:
-		return b.gate.Done()
-	case <-b.gate.Done():
-		return b.gate.Done()
-	case <-ctx.Done():
-		return ctx.Done()
+	case <-b.running.Done():
 	}
+	b.RLock()
+	defer b.RUnlock()
+	return b.gate.Done()
 }
 
 // Flush all goroutines blocking on the current gate and create a new gate.
@@ -73,8 +76,8 @@ func (b *Batcher) Flush() {
 	b.gate, b.flush = context.WithCancel(b.running)
 }
 
-// Wait returns a slice of enqueued items after idle or timeout
-func (b *Batcher) Wait(ctx context.Context) (items []interface{}, window time.Duration) {
+// Wait starts a batching window and returns a slice of items when closed.
+func (b *Batcher) Wait() (items []interface{}, window time.Duration) {
 	// Start the batching window after the first item is received
 	items = append(items, <-b.queue)
 	start := time.Now()
@@ -88,11 +91,9 @@ func (b *Batcher) Wait(ctx context.Context) (items []interface{}, window time.Du
 			return
 		}
 		select {
-		case task := <-b.queue:
+		case item := <-b.queue:
 			idle.Reset(BatchIdleDuration)
-			items = append(items, task)
-		case <-ctx.Done():
-			return
+			items = append(items, item)
 		case <-timeout.C:
 			return
 		case <-idle.C:
diff --git a/pkg/controllers/provisioning/provisioner.go b/pkg/controllers/provisioning/provisioner.go
index 98cdde01ecb4..c51dc77524da 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/provisioning/provisioner.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/provisioning/provisioner.go
@@ -51,12 +51,12 @@ func NewProvisioner(ctx context.Context, provisioner *v1alpha5.Provisioner, kube
 		packer:        binpacking.NewPacker(kubeClient, cloudProvider),
 	}
 	go func() {
-		for ctx.Err() == nil {
-			if err := p.provision(ctx); err != nil {
-				logging.FromContext(ctx).Errorf("Provisioning failed, %s", err.Error())
+		for running.Err() == nil {
+			if err := p.provision(running); err != nil {
+				logging.FromContext(running).Errorf("Provisioning failed, %s", err.Error())
 			}
 		}
-		logging.FromContext(ctx).Info("Stopped provisioner")
+		logging.FromContext(running).Info("Stopped provisioner")
 	}()
 	return p
 }
@@ -75,16 +75,16 @@ type Provisioner struct {
 	packer        *binpacking.Packer
 }
 
-// Add a pod to the provisioner and block until it's processed. The caller
-// is responsible for verifying that the pod was scheduled correctly.
-func (p *Provisioner) Add(ctx context.Context, pod *v1.Pod) <-chan struct{} {
-	return p.batcher.Add(ctx, pod)
+// Add a pod to the provisioner and return a channel to block on. The caller is
+// responsible for verifying that the pod was scheduled correctly.
+func (p *Provisioner) Add(pod *v1.Pod) <-chan struct{} {
+	return p.batcher.Add(pod)
 }
 
 func (p *Provisioner) provision(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	// Batch pods
 	logging.FromContext(ctx).Infof("Waiting for unschedulable pods")
-	items, window := p.batcher.Wait(ctx)
+	items, window := p.batcher.Wait()
 	defer p.batcher.Flush()
 	logging.FromContext(ctx).Infof("Batched %d pods in %s", len(items), window)
 	// Filter pods
diff --git a/pkg/controllers/selection/controller.go b/pkg/controllers/selection/controller.go
index 8199ead4833f..b7b4648f19fc 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/selection/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/selection/controller.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func (c *Controller) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req reconcile.Request) (reco
 		logging.FromContext(ctx).Debugf("Could not schedule pod, %s", err.Error())
 		return reconcile.Result{}, err
 	}
-	return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: time.Second * 1}, nil
+	return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: time.Second * 5}, nil
 }
 
 func (c *Controller) selectProvisioner(ctx context.Context, pod *v1.Pod) (errs error) {
@@ -99,7 +99,10 @@ func (c *Controller) selectProvisioner(ctx context.Context, pod *v1.Pod) (errs e
 	if provisioner == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("matched 0/%d provisioners, %w", len(multierr.Errors(errs)), errs)
 	}
-	<-provisioner.Add(ctx, pod)
+	select {
+	case <-provisioner.Add(pod):
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+	}
 	return nil
 }