diff --git a/core/services/ocr2/plugins/ocr2keeper/evm21/registry_check_pipeline.go b/core/services/ocr2/plugins/ocr2keeper/evm21/registry_check_pipeline.go
index db50b322147..bcac214d9f2 100644
--- a/core/services/ocr2/plugins/ocr2keeper/evm21/registry_check_pipeline.go
+++ b/core/services/ocr2/plugins/ocr2keeper/evm21/registry_check_pipeline.go
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ const (
 	// checkBlockTooOldRange is the number of blocks that can be behind the latest block before
 	// we return a CheckBlockTooOld error
 	checkBlockTooOldRange = 128
+	// block range till which a checkBlock is considered fresh where certain RPC issues are treated
+	// as retryable as they might have flaky race conditions
+	freshCheckBlockRange = 10
 )
 
 type checkResult struct {
@@ -31,6 +34,9 @@ func (r *EvmRegistry) CheckUpkeeps(ctx context.Context, keys ...ocr2keepers.Upke
 	for i := range keys {
 		if keys[i].Trigger.BlockNumber == 0 { // check block was not populated, use latest
 			latest := r.bs.latestBlock.Load()
+			if latest == nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("no latest block available")
+			}
 			copy(keys[i].Trigger.BlockHash[:], latest.Hash[:])
 			keys[i].Trigger.BlockNumber = latest.Number
 			r.lggr.Debugf("Check upkeep key had no trigger block number, using latest block %v", keys[i].Trigger.BlockNumber)
@@ -139,23 +145,43 @@ func (r *EvmRegistry) verifyLogExists(upkeepId *big.Int, p ocr2keepers.UpkeepPay
 	} else {
 		r.lggr.Debugf("log block not provided, querying eth client for tx hash %s for upkeepId %s", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), upkeepId)
 	}
+
+	latestBlock := r.bs.latestBlock.Load()
+	freshCheckBlock := latestBlock != nil && latestBlock.Number-p.Trigger.BlockNumber <= freshCheckBlockRange
 	// query eth client as a fallback
 	bn, bh, err := core.GetTxBlock(r.ctx, r.client, p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash)
 	if err != nil {
+		r.lggr.Warnf("failed to query tx hash %s for upkeepId %s: %s", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), upkeepId, err.Error())
 		// primitive way of checking errors
 		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "missing required field") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not found") {
-			return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonTxHashNoLongerExists, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
+			// Tx hash was not found on chain, in case of freshCheckBlock it might be a flaky race condition
+			// otherwise return ineligible upkeep response
+			if freshCheckBlock {
+				return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonNone, encoding.RpcFlakyFailure, true
+			} else {
+				return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonTxHashNoLongerExists, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
+			}
 		}
-		r.lggr.Warnf("failed to query tx hash %s for upkeepId %s: %s", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), upkeepId, err.Error())
+		// All other errors are considered as flaky RPC errors
 		return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonNone, encoding.RpcFlakyFailure, true
 	}
 	if bn == nil {
-		r.lggr.Warnf("tx hash %s does not exist on chain for upkeepId %s.", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), upkeepId)
-		return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonTxHashNoLongerExists, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
+		// Empty receipt was returned, which indicates that the tx hash no longer exists on chain
+		// in case of freshCheckBlock it might be a flaky race condition
+		if freshCheckBlock {
+			return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonNone, encoding.RpcFlakyFailure, true
+		} else {
+			r.lggr.Warnf("tx hash %s does not exist on chain for upkeepId %s.", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), upkeepId)
+			return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonTxHashNoLongerExists, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
+		}
 	}
 	if bh.Hex() != logBlockHash.Hex() {
-		r.lggr.Warnf("tx hash %s reorged from expected blockhash %s to %s for upkeepId %s.", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), logBlockHash.Hex(), bh.Hex(), upkeepId)
-		return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonTxHashReorged, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
+		if freshCheckBlock {
+			return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonNone, encoding.RpcFlakyFailure, true
+		} else {
+			r.lggr.Warnf("tx hash %s reorged from expected blockhash %s to %s for upkeepId %s.", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), logBlockHash.Hex(), bh.Hex(), upkeepId)
+			return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonTxHashReorged, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
+		}
 	}
 	r.lggr.Debugf("tx hash %s exists on chain for upkeepId %s", hexutil.Encode(p.Trigger.LogTriggerExtension.TxHash[:]), upkeepId)
 	return encoding.UpkeepFailureReasonNone, encoding.NoPipelineError, false
@@ -243,12 +269,16 @@ func (r *EvmRegistry) checkUpkeeps(ctx context.Context, payloads []ocr2keepers.U
 		index := indices[i]
 		if req.Error != nil {
 			latestBlock := r.bs.latestBlock.Load()
+			latestBlockNumber := int64(0)
+			if latestBlock != nil {
+				latestBlockNumber = int64(latestBlock.Number)
+			}
 			checkBlock, _, _ := r.getBlockAndUpkeepId(payloads[index].UpkeepID, payloads[index].Trigger)
 			// Exploratory: remove reliance on primitive way of checking errors
 			blockNotFound := (strings.Contains(req.Error.Error(), "header not found") || strings.Contains(req.Error.Error(), "missing trie node"))
-			if blockNotFound && int64(latestBlock.Number)-checkBlock.Int64() > checkBlockTooOldRange {
+			if blockNotFound && latestBlockNumber-checkBlock.Int64() > checkBlockTooOldRange {
 				// Check block not found in RPC and it is too old, non-retryable error
-				r.lggr.Warnf("block not found error encountered in check result for upkeepId %s, check block %d, latest block %d: %s", results[index].UpkeepID.String(), checkBlock.Int64(), int64(latestBlock.Number), req.Error)
+				r.lggr.Warnf("block not found error encountered in check result for upkeepId %s, check block %d, latest block %d: %s", results[index].UpkeepID.String(), checkBlock.Int64(), latestBlockNumber, req.Error)
 				results[index].Retryable = false
 				results[index].PipelineExecutionState = uint8(encoding.CheckBlockTooOld)
 			} else {