diff --git a/hack/capi-operator_test.bats b/hack/capi-operator_test.bats
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cfd2fd8e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/capi-operator_test.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+# The operator's resync period is what bounds the stale-Ready window after an
+# operator restart (kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api-operator#1031): about two
+# periods. It reaches the manager only through patches/sync-period.diff, which
+# `make update` has to reapply on every re-vendor, and through the value in
+# values.yaml. Losing either silently returns the window to about 20 minutes,
+# so this checks the argument the rendered Deployment actually carries.
+
+load test_helper
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BATS_TEST_FILENAME:-$0}")/.." && pwd)"
+OPERATOR="$REPO_ROOT/packages/system/capi-operator"
+
+@test "the operator manager runs with a one-minute resync period" {
+  local rendered args
+  rendered="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/operator.yaml"
+  helm template capi-operator "$OPERATOR" --namespace cozy-cluster-api > "$rendered"
+  args="$(yq -N 'select(.kind == "Deployment") | .spec.template.spec.containers[] | select(.name == "manager") | .args[]' "$rendered")"
+  [ -n "$args" ] || { echo "no manager container args rendered from $OPERATOR" >&2; return 1; }
+  case "$(printf '%s\n' "$args" | grep -c '^--sync-period=')" in
+    1) ;;
+    *) echo "expected exactly one --sync-period in the manager args, got:" >&2; echo "$args" >&2; return 1 ;;
+  esac
+  printf '%s\n' "$args" | grep -qx -- '--sync-period=1m' || { echo "manager args: $args" >&2; return 1; }
+}
diff --git a/packages/system/capi-operator/Makefile b/packages/system/capi-operator/Makefile
index 9349f5499..e90c8fe88 100644
--- a/packages/system/capi-operator/Makefile
+++ b/packages/system/capi-operator/Makefile
@@ -9,3 +9,6 @@ include ../../../hack/package.mk
 
 update: clean capi-operator-update
 	rm -rf charts/cluster-api-operator/charts/
+	# The upstream chart has no value for --sync-period; values.yaml explains
+	# why we set it.
+	patch -p1 < patches/sync-period.diff
diff --git a/packages/system/capi-operator/charts/cluster-api-operator/templates/deployment.yaml b/packages/system/capi-operator/charts/cluster-api-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
index 598d85c8a..1d51dce18 100644
--- a/packages/system/capi-operator/charts/cluster-api-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/packages/system/capi-operator/charts/cluster-api-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ spec:
         - --leader-elect-retry-period={{ .retryPeriod }}
         {{- end }}
         {{- end }}
+        {{- with .Values.syncPeriod }}
+        - --sync-period={{ . }}
+        {{- end }}
         command:
         - /manager
         {{- with .Values.image.manager }}
diff --git a/packages/system/capi-operator/patches/sync-period.diff b/packages/system/capi-operator/patches/sync-period.diff
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c10946ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/system/capi-operator/patches/sync-period.diff
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+--- a/charts/cluster-api-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
++++ b/charts/cluster-api-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
+@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@
+         - --leader-elect-retry-period={{ .retryPeriod }}
+         {{- end }}
+         {{- end }}
++        {{- with .Values.syncPeriod }}
++        - --sync-period={{ . }}
++        {{- end }}
+         command:
+         - /manager
+         {{- with .Values.image.manager }}
diff --git a/packages/system/capi-operator/values.yaml b/packages/system/capi-operator/values.yaml
index 7e8b95c50..40cffd7a8 100644
--- a/packages/system/capi-operator/values.yaml
+++ b/packages/system/capi-operator/values.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 cluster-api-operator:
+  # A restarted v0.19 operator ignores the provider Deployments it finds
+  # running (kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api-operator#1031), so a stale
+  # Ready=False on a provider clears only at the first informer resync,
+  # two periods after the restart: ~20 min at the 10m default, ~2 min at
+  # 1m (both measured). A resync is served from the cache and changes
+  # nothing when providers are in sync, so the short period costs no API
+  # writes. Applied through patches/sync-period.diff.
+  syncPeriod: 1m
   resources:
     manager:
       limits: