diff --git a/files/pull-sandbox-image.sh b/files/pull-sandbox-image.sh
index 523e7ed4c..e1c1a6eb8 100644
--- a/files/pull-sandbox-image.sh
+++ b/files/pull-sandbox-image.sh
@@ -2,4 +2,10 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 sandbox_image="$(awk -F'[ ="]+' '$1 == "sandbox_image" { print $2 }' /etc/containerd/config.toml)"
+
+### Short-circuit fetching sandbox image if its already present
+if [[ "$(sudo ctr --namespace k8s.io image ls | grep $sandbox_image)" != "" ]]; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+
 /etc/eks/containerd/pull-image.sh "${sandbox_image}"