diff --git a/internal/services/controller/controller.go b/internal/services/controller/controller.go
index 8c538ff0..50a3b7ba 100644
--- a/internal/services/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/services/controller/controller.go
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func (c *Controller) nodeAddHandler(log logrus.FieldLogger, event event, obj int
 	}
 
 	if spot {
-		node.Labels[labels.FakeSpot] = "true"
+		node.Labels[labels.CastaiFakeSpot] = "true"
 	}
 
 	genericHandler(log, c.queue, reflect.TypeOf(&corev1.Node{}), event, node)
diff --git a/internal/services/controller/controller_test.go b/internal/services/controller/controller_test.go
index 9d6832a1..c82d5208 100644
--- a/internal/services/controller/controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/services/controller/controller_test.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func Test(t *testing.T) {
 
 	node := &v1.Node{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "node1", Labels: map[string]string{}}}
 	expectedNode := node.DeepCopy()
-	expectedNode.Labels[labels.FakeSpot] = "true"
+	expectedNode.Labels[labels.CastaiFakeSpot] = "true"
 	nodeData, err := encode(expectedNode)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/castai/castai.go b/internal/services/providers/castai/castai.go
index 80c7b7e1..0fb188a8 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/castai/castai.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/castai/castai.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ type Provider struct {
 }
 
 func (p *Provider) IsSpot(_ context.Context, node *v1.Node) (bool, error) {
-	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.Spot]; ok && val == "true" {
+	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.CastaiSpot]; ok && val == "true" {
 		return true, nil
 	}
 	return false, nil
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/eks/client/aws.go b/internal/services/providers/eks/client/aws.go
index 10c887c5..8bcc4162 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/eks/client/aws.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/eks/client/aws.go
@@ -72,12 +72,23 @@ func WithEC2Client() func(ctx context.Context, c *client) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("creating aws sdk session: %w", err)
 		}
 
+		c.sess = sess
 		c.ec2Client = ec2.New(sess)
 
 		return nil
 	}
 }
 
+// WithValidateCredentials validates the aws-sdk credentials chain.
+func WithValidateCredentials() func(ctx context.Context, c *client) error {
+	return func(ctx context.Context, c *client) error {
+		if _, err := c.sess.Config.Credentials.Get(); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("validating aws credentials: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 // WithMetadata configures the discoverable EC2 instance metadata and EKS properties by setting static values instead
 // of relying on the discovery mechanism.
 func WithMetadata(accountID, region, clusterName string) func(ctx context.Context, c *client) error {
@@ -112,6 +123,7 @@ func WithMetadataDiscovery() func(ctx context.Context, c *client) error {
 
 type client struct {
 	log         logrus.FieldLogger
+	sess        *session.Session
 	metaClient  *ec2metadata.EC2Metadata
 	ec2Client   *ec2.EC2
 	region      *string
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/eks/eks.go b/internal/services/providers/eks/eks.go
index d9d24e07..5c779332 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/eks/eks.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/eks/eks.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func (p *Provider) IsSpot(ctx context.Context, node *v1.Node) (bool, error) {
 		return true, nil
 	}
 
-	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.Spot]; ok && val == "true" {
+	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.CastaiSpot]; ok && val == "true" {
 		return true, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/eks/eks_test.go b/internal/services/providers/eks/eks_test.go
index d3a27061..ad0f4999 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/eks/eks_test.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/eks/eks_test.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func TestProvider_IsSpot(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		got, err := p.IsSpot(context.Background(), &v1.Node{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Labels: map[string]string{
-			labels.Spot: "true",
+			labels.CastaiSpot: "true",
 		}}})
 
 		require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/gke/gke.go b/internal/services/providers/gke/gke.go
index 3fea2bca..85c6831f 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/gke/gke.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/gke/gke.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func (p *Provider) RegisterCluster(ctx context.Context, client castai.Client) (*
 }
 
 func (p *Provider) IsSpot(_ context.Context, node *corev1.Node) (bool, error) {
-	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.Spot]; ok && val == "true" {
+	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.CastaiSpot]; ok && val == "true" {
 		return true, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/gke/gke_test.go b/internal/services/providers/gke/gke_test.go
index 03c3db41..9effe932 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/gke/gke_test.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/gke/gke_test.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func TestProvider_IsSpot(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{
 			name:     "castai spot node",
-			node:     &v1.Node{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Labels: map[string]string{labels.Spot: "true"}}},
+			node:     &v1.Node{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Labels: map[string]string{labels.CastaiSpot: "true"}}},
 			expected: true,
 		},
 		{
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/kops/kops.go b/internal/services/providers/kops/kops.go
index e4a936e7..948d2dcb 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/kops/kops.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/kops/kops.go
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ func (p *Provider) RegisterCluster(ctx context.Context, client castai.Client) (*
 		opts := []awsclient.Opt{
 			awsclient.WithMetadata("", region, clusterName),
 			awsclient.WithEC2Client(),
+			awsclient.WithValidateCredentials(),
 		}
 		c, err := awsclient.New(ctx, p.log, opts...)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -114,7 +115,11 @@ func (p *Provider) RegisterCluster(ctx context.Context, client castai.Client) (*
 }
 
 func (p *Provider) IsSpot(ctx context.Context, node *v1.Node) (bool, error) {
-	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.Spot]; ok && val == "true" {
+	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.CastaiSpot]; ok && val == "true" {
+		return true, nil
+	}
+
+	if val, ok := node.Labels[labels.KopsSpot]; ok && val == "true" {
 		return true, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/kops/kops_test.go b/internal/services/providers/kops/kops_test.go
index 0a6fd1ae..771b3d4a 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/kops/kops_test.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/kops/kops_test.go
@@ -170,7 +170,24 @@ func TestProvider_IsSpot(t *testing.T) {
 		node := &v1.Node{
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 				Labels: map[string]string{
-					labels.Spot: "true",
+					labels.CastaiSpot: "true",
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		p := &Provider{}
+
+		got, err := p.IsSpot(context.Background(), node)
+
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.True(t, got)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("kops instance group spot nodes", func(t *testing.T) {
+		node := &v1.Node{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Labels: map[string]string{
+					labels.KopsSpot: "true",
 				},
 			},
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/labels/labels.go b/pkg/labels/labels.go
index 7ff07bd3..1f75a038 100644
--- a/pkg/labels/labels.go
+++ b/pkg/labels/labels.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package labels
 
 const (
-	Spot     = "scheduling.cast.ai/spot"
-	FakeSpot = "scheduling.cast.ai/fake-spot"
+	CastaiSpot     = "scheduling.cast.ai/spot"
+	CastaiFakeSpot = "scheduling.cast.ai/fake-spot"
+	KopsSpot       = "spot"
 )