diff --git a/controller_manager/src/controller_manager.cpp b/controller_manager/src/controller_manager.cpp
index 2c958bf591..932dfd392b 100644
--- a/controller_manager/src/controller_manager.cpp
+++ b/controller_manager/src/controller_manager.cpp
@@ -295,6 +295,14 @@ void ControllerManager::init_controller_manager()
     RCLCPP_WARN(get_logger(), "'update_rate' parameter not set, using default value.");
   }
 
+  robot_description_notification_timer_ = create_wall_timer(
+    std::chrono::seconds(1),
+    [&]()
+    {
+      RCLCPP_WARN(
+        get_logger(), "Waiting for data on '~/robot_description' topic to finish initialization");
+    });
+
   // set QoS to transient local to get messages that have already been published
   // (if robot state publisher starts before controller manager)
   robot_description_subscription_ = create_subscription<std_msgs::msg::String>(
@@ -308,14 +316,6 @@ void ControllerManager::init_controller_manager()
   diagnostics_updater_.setHardwareID("ros2_control");
   diagnostics_updater_.add(
     "Controllers Activity", this, &ControllerManager::controller_activity_diagnostic_callback);
-
-  robot_description_notification_timer_ = create_wall_timer(
-    std::chrono::seconds(1),
-    [&]()
-    {
-      RCLCPP_WARN(
-        get_logger(), "Waiting for data on '~/robot_description' topic to finish initialization");
-    });
 }
 
 void ControllerManager::robot_description_callback(const std_msgs::msg::String & robot_description)
diff --git a/hardware_interface_testing/test/test_resource_manager.cpp b/hardware_interface_testing/test/test_resource_manager.cpp
index 4bb9e0c5fe..d21b4f26ae 100644
--- a/hardware_interface_testing/test/test_resource_manager.cpp
+++ b/hardware_interface_testing/test/test_resource_manager.cpp
@@ -106,9 +106,7 @@ TEST_F(ResourceManagerTest, test_unitilizable_hardware_validation)
   // If the the hardware can not be initialized and load_urdf tried to validate the interfaces a
   // runtime exception is thrown
   TestableResourceManager rm;
-  ASSERT_THROW(
-    rm.load_urdf(ros2_control_test_assets::minimal_unitilizable_robot_urdf, true),
-    std::runtime_error);
+  EXPECT_FALSE(rm.load_urdf(ros2_control_test_assets::minimal_unitilizable_robot_urdf, true));
 }
 
 TEST_F(ResourceManagerTest, test_unitilizable_hardware_no_validation)
@@ -116,7 +114,7 @@ TEST_F(ResourceManagerTest, test_unitilizable_hardware_no_validation)
   // If the the hardware can not be initialized and load_urdf didn't try to validate the interfaces,
   // the interface should not show up
   TestableResourceManager rm;
-  EXPECT_NO_THROW(rm.load_urdf(ros2_control_test_assets::minimal_unitilizable_robot_urdf, false));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(rm.load_urdf(ros2_control_test_assets::minimal_unitilizable_robot_urdf, false));
 
   // test actuator
   EXPECT_FALSE(rm.state_interface_exists("joint1/position"));