diff --git a/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts b/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts
index 6bedca2b34..7153aa8334 100644
--- a/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts
+++ b/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import type { NodeJSErrnoException } from "../../exceptions.js"
 import { InternalError, isErrnoException } from "../../exceptions.js"
 import type { ErrorEvent } from "ws"
 import dns from "node:dns"
+import { trim } from "lodash-es"
 
 /**
  * The flag {@code forceRetry} can be used to avoid {@link shouldRetry} helper call in case if the error code
@@ -121,6 +122,12 @@ export function toKubernetesError(err: unknown, context: string): KubernetesErro
     errorType = "WebsocketError"
     originalMessage = err.message
     // The ErrorEvent does not expose the status code other than as part of the error.message
+  } else if (err instanceof Error && err.name === "Error" && err.cause === undefined) {
+    // exec auth getCredential function of kubernetes client throws plain error
+    // see also https://github.com/kubernetes-client/javascript/blob/release-1.x/src/exec_auth.ts
+    // TODO: fix the client to throw a more recognizable error
+    errorType = "Error"
+    originalMessage = trim(err.message)
   } else {
     // In all other cases, we don't know what this is, so let's just throw an InternalError
     throw InternalError.wrapError(err, `toKubernetesError encountered an unknown error during ${context}`)
diff --git a/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts b/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts
index 7ddd0a3484..2035b1e58a 100644
--- a/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts
+++ b/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import type { ErrorEvent, WebSocket } from "ws"
 import { shouldRetry, toKubernetesError } from "../../../../../src/plugins/kubernetes/retry.js"
 import { expect } from "chai"
 import dedent from "dedent"
+import { expectError } from "../../../../helpers.js"
 
 const testKubeOp = "test"
 const websocketError: ErrorEvent = {
@@ -18,6 +19,8 @@ const websocketError: ErrorEvent = {
   type: "error",
   target: true as unknown as WebSocket,
 }
+const plainError = new Error("failed to refresh token")
+const syntaxError = new SyntaxError("invalid syntax")
 
 describe("toKubernetesError", () => {
   it("should handle WebsocketError", () => {
@@ -33,6 +36,26 @@ describe("toKubernetesError", () => {
     expect(err.apiMessage).to.be.undefined
     expect(err.type).to.equal("kubernetes")
   })
+
+  it("should handle plain error gracefully", () => {
+    const err = toKubernetesError(plainError, testKubeOp)
+
+    expect(err).to.be.instanceof(KubernetesError)
+    expect(err.message).to.equal(dedent`
+      Error while performing Kubernetes API operation test: Error
+
+      failed to refresh token
+    `)
+    expect(err.responseStatusCode).to.be.undefined
+    expect(err.apiMessage).to.be.undefined
+    expect(err.type).to.equal("kubernetes")
+  })
+
+  it("should crash on other errors like TypeError and SyntaxError", async () => {
+    await expectError(async () => toKubernetesError(syntaxError, testKubeOp), {
+      type: "crash",
+    })
+  })
 })
 
 describe("shouldRetry", () => {