diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass.go b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass.go
index 289dfbc35ede..0ec8e6e8d7d3 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass.go
@@ -472,6 +472,12 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClass) InstanceProfileTags(clusterName string) map[string]strin
 	})
 }
 
+// UbuntuIncompatible returns true if the NodeClass has the ubuntu compatibility annotation. This will cause the NodeClass to show
+// as NotReady in its status conditions, opting its referencing NodePools out of provisioning and drift.
+func (in *EC2NodeClass) UbuntuIncompatible() bool {
+	return lo.Contains(strings.Split(in.Annotations[AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityKey], ","), AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityIncompatible)
+}
+
 // AMIFamily returns the family for a NodePool based on the following items, in order of precdence:
 //   - ec2nodeclass.spec.amiFamily
 //   - ec2nodeclass.spec.amiSelectorTerms[].alias
diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go
index f5e555750bb1..30650091716e 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClass) ConvertTo(ctx context.Context, to apis.Convertible) erro
 
 	if value, ok := in.Annotations[AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityKey]; ok {
 		compatSpecifiers := strings.Split(value, ",")
+		// Remove the `id: ami-placeholder` AMISelectorTerms that are injected to pass CRD validation at v1
+		// we don't need these in v1beta1, and should be dropped
+		if lo.Contains(compatSpecifiers, AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityIncompatible) {
+			in.Spec.AMISelectorTerms = nil
+		}
 		// The only blockDeviceMappings present on the v1 EC2NodeClass are those that we injected during conversion.
 		// These should be dropped.
 		if lo.Contains(compatSpecifiers, AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityBlockDeviceMappings) {
@@ -132,13 +137,6 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClass) ConvertFrom(ctx context.Context, from apis.Convertible)
 			in.Spec.AMIFamily = v1beta1enc.Spec.AMIFamily
 		}
 	case AMIFamilyUbuntu:
-		// If there are no AMISelectorTerms specified, we will fail closed when converting the NodeClass. Users must
-		// pin their AMIs **before** upgrading to Karpenter v1.0.0 if they were using the Ubuntu AMIFamily.
-		// TODO: jmdeal@ verify doc link to the upgrade guide once available
-		if len(v1beta1enc.Spec.AMISelectorTerms) == 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("converting EC2NodeClass %q from v1beta1 to v1, automatic Ubuntu AMI discovery is not supported (https://karpenter.sh/v1.0/upgrading/upgrade-guide/)", v1beta1enc.Name)
-		}
-
 		// If AMISelectorTerms were specified, we can continue to use them to discover Ubuntu AMIs and use the AL2 AMI
 		// family for bootstrapping. AL2 and Ubuntu have an identical UserData format, but do have different default
 		// BlockDeviceMappings. We'll set the BlockDeviceMappings to Ubuntu's default if no user specified
@@ -157,6 +155,16 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClass) ConvertFrom(ctx context.Context, from apis.Convertible)
 				},
 			}}
 		}
+
+		// If there are no AMISelectorTerms specified, we mark the ec2nodeclass as incompatible.
+		// Karpenter will ignore incompatible ec2nodeclasses for provisioning and computing drift.
+		if len(v1beta1enc.Spec.AMISelectorTerms) == 0 {
+			compatSpecifiers = append(compatSpecifiers, AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityIncompatible)
+			in.Spec.AMISelectorTerms = []AMISelectorTerm{{
+				ID: "ami-placeholder",
+			}}
+		}
+
 		// This compatibility annotation will be used to determine if the amiFamily was mutated from Ubuntu to AL2, and
 		// if we needed to inject any blockDeviceMappings. This is required to enable a round-trip conversion.
 		in.Annotations = lo.Assign(in.Annotations, map[string]string{
diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go
index b338cf0a616b..b4b0357371a8 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go
@@ -432,10 +432,11 @@ var _ = Describe("Convert v1beta1 to v1 EC2NodeClass API", func() {
 				},
 			}}))
 		})
-		It("should fail to convert v1beta1 ec2nodeclass when amiFamily is Ubuntu (without amiSelectorTerms)", func() {
+		It("should convert v1beta1 ec2nodeclass when amiFamily is Ubuntu (without amiSelectorTerms) but mark incompatible", func() {
 			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMIFamily = lo.ToPtr(v1beta1.AMIFamilyUbuntu)
 			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMISelectorTerms = nil
-			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.ConvertFrom(ctx, v1beta1ec2nodeclass)).ToNot(Succeed())
+			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.ConvertFrom(ctx, v1beta1ec2nodeclass)).To(Succeed())
+			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.UbuntuIncompatible()).To(BeTrue())
 		})
 		It("should convert v1beta1 ec2nodeclass user data", func() {
 			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.UserData = lo.ToPtr("test user data")
diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go b/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go
index 701c79a91d8e..fbdd6f65022e 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ var (
 	AnnotationInstanceTagged                  = Group + "/tagged"
 
 	AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityKey                 = CompatibilityGroup + "/v1beta1-ubuntu"
+	AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityIncompatible        = "incompatible"
 	AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityAMIFamily           = "amiFamily"
 	AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityBlockDeviceMappings = "blockDeviceMappings"