diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/interfaces.go b/pkg/orchestrator/interfaces.go
index b75032a0df..2d65555d78 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/interfaces.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/interfaces.go
@@ -102,11 +102,13 @@ type NodeRanker interface {
 type NodeSelector interface {
 	// AllNodes returns all nodes in the network.
 	AllNodes(ctx context.Context) ([]models.NodeInfo, error)
+
 	// AllMatchingNodes returns all nodes that match the job constrains and selection criteria.
-	AllMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job) ([]models.NodeInfo, error)
+	AllMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, options ...NodeSelectionOption) ([]models.NodeInfo, error)
+
 	// TopMatchingNodes return the top ranked desiredCount number of nodes that match job constraints
 	// ordered in descending order based on their rank, or error if not enough nodes match.
-	TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, desiredCount int) ([]models.NodeInfo, error)
+	TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, desiredCount int, options ...NodeSelectionOption) ([]models.NodeInfo, error)
 }
 
 type RetryStrategy interface {
diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/mocks.go b/pkg/orchestrator/mocks.go
index 268f6704ea..9821de8f56 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/mocks.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/mocks.go
@@ -398,18 +398,18 @@ func (mr *MockNodeSelectorMockRecorder) AllNodes(ctx any) *gomock.Call {
 }
 
 // TopMatchingNodes mocks base method.
-func (m *MockNodeSelector) TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, desiredCount int) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
+func (m *MockNodeSelector) TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, desiredCount int, options ...any) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
 	m.ctrl.T.Helper()
-	ret := m.ctrl.Call(m, "TopMatchingNodes", ctx, job, desiredCount)
+	ret := m.ctrl.Call(m, "TopMatchingNodes", ctx, job, desiredCount, options)
 	ret0, _ := ret[0].([]models.NodeInfo)
 	ret1, _ := ret[1].(error)
 	return ret0, ret1
 }
 
 // TopMatchingNodes indicates an expected call of TopMatchingNodes.
-func (mr *MockNodeSelectorMockRecorder) TopMatchingNodes(ctx, job, desiredCount any) *gomock.Call {
+func (mr *MockNodeSelectorMockRecorder) TopMatchingNodes(ctx, job, desiredCount any, options ...any) *gomock.Call {
 	mr.mock.ctrl.T.Helper()
-	return mr.mock.ctrl.RecordCallWithMethodType(mr.mock, "TopMatchingNodes", reflect.TypeOf((*MockNodeSelector)(nil).TopMatchingNodes), ctx, job, desiredCount)
+	return mr.mock.ctrl.RecordCallWithMethodType(mr.mock, "TopMatchingNodes", reflect.TypeOf((*MockNodeSelector)(nil).TopMatchingNodes), ctx, job, desiredCount, options)
 }
 
 // MockRetryStrategy is a mock of RetryStrategy interface.
diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/batch_service_job.go b/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/batch_service_job.go
index 98be071685..6e7ba92aa4 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/batch_service_job.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/batch_service_job.go
@@ -153,7 +153,14 @@ func (b *BatchServiceJobScheduler) createMissingExecs(
 // placeExecs places the executions
 func (b *BatchServiceJobScheduler) placeExecs(ctx context.Context, execs execSet, job *models.Job) error {
 	if len(execs) > 0 {
-		selectedNodes, err := b.nodeSelector.TopMatchingNodes(ctx, job, len(execs))
+		// TODO: Remove the options once we are ready to enforce that only connected/approved nodes can be used
+		selectedNodes, err := b.nodeSelector.TopMatchingNodes(
+			ctx,
+			job,
+			len(execs),
+			orchestrator.WithApproval(false),
+			orchestrator.WithConnected(false),
+		)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/daemon_job.go b/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/daemon_job.go
index eda155359a..cb8036aa44 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/daemon_job.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/daemon_job.go
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ func (b *DaemonJobScheduler) Process(ctx context.Context, evaluation *models.Eva
 func (b *DaemonJobScheduler) createMissingExecs(
 	ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, plan *models.Plan, existingExecs execSet) (execSet, error) {
 	newExecs := execSet{}
-	nodes, err := b.nodeSelector.AllMatchingNodes(ctx, job)
+
+	// Require approval when selecting nodes, but do not require them to be connected.
+	nodes, err := b.nodeSelector.AllMatchingNodes(ctx, job, orchestrator.WithApproval(true), orchestrator.WithConnected(false))
 	if err != nil {
 		return newExecs, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/ops_job.go b/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/ops_job.go
index 8815f0cbd5..35f6c68da5 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/ops_job.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/scheduler/ops_job.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (b *OpsJobScheduler) Process(ctx context.Context, evaluation *models.Evalua
 func (b *OpsJobScheduler) createMissingExecs(
 	ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, plan *models.Plan) (execSet, error) {
 	newExecs := execSet{}
-	nodes, err := b.nodeSelector.AllMatchingNodes(ctx, job)
+	nodes, err := b.nodeSelector.AllMatchingNodes(ctx, job, orchestrator.WithApproval(true), orchestrator.WithConnected(false))
 	if err != nil {
 		return newExecs, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/selection/selector/node_selector.go b/pkg/orchestrator/selection/selector/node_selector.go
index c820b9a085..c9547a7972 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/selection/selector/node_selector.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/selection/selector/node_selector.go
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ func (n NodeSelector) AllNodes(ctx context.Context) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
 	return n.nodeDiscoverer.ListNodes(ctx)
 }
 
-func (n NodeSelector) AllMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
-	filteredNodes, _, err := n.rankAndFilterNodes(ctx, job)
+func (n NodeSelector) AllMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context,
+	job *models.Job,
+	options ...orchestrator.NodeSelectionOption) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
+	filteredNodes, _, err := n.rankAndFilterNodes(ctx, job, options...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -44,11 +46,15 @@ func (n NodeSelector) AllMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job) ([]
 	nodeInfos := generic.Map(filteredNodes, func(nr orchestrator.NodeRank) models.NodeInfo { return nr.NodeInfo })
 	return nodeInfos, nil
 }
-func (n NodeSelector) TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, desiredCount int) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
-	possibleNodes, rejectedNodes, err := n.rankAndFilterNodes(ctx, job)
+
+func (n NodeSelector) TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context,
+	job *models.Job, desiredCount int,
+	options ...orchestrator.NodeSelectionOption) ([]models.NodeInfo, error) {
+	possibleNodes, rejectedNodes, err := n.rankAndFilterNodes(ctx, job, options...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
 	if len(possibleNodes) < desiredCount {
 		// TODO: evaluate if we should run the job if some nodes where found
 		err = orchestrator.NewErrNotEnoughNodes(desiredCount, append(possibleNodes, rejectedNodes...))
@@ -64,18 +70,38 @@ func (n NodeSelector) TopMatchingNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job, des
 	return selectedInfos, nil
 }
 
-func (n NodeSelector) rankAndFilterNodes(ctx context.Context, job *models.Job) (selected, rejected []orchestrator.NodeRank, err error) {
+func (n NodeSelector) rankAndFilterNodes(ctx context.Context,
+	job *models.Job,
+	options ...orchestrator.NodeSelectionOption) (selected, rejected []orchestrator.NodeRank, err error) {
 	listed, err := n.nodeDiscoverer.ListNodes(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
+	// Apply constraints on the state of the nodes we want to select, but allow
+	// the caller to override them.
+	constraints := &orchestrator.NodeSelectionConstraint{
+		RequireApproval:  true,
+		RequireConnected: true,
+	}
+	for _, opt := range options {
+		opt(constraints)
+	}
+
 	nodeIDs := lo.Filter(listed, func(nodeInfo models.NodeInfo, index int) bool {
-		// Filter out nodes that are not compute nodes, or nodes that are not currently
-		// connected or approved. We only want to consider nodes that are ready to run jobs.
-		return nodeInfo.NodeType == models.NodeTypeCompute &&
-			nodeInfo.State == models.NodeStates.CONNECTED &&
-			nodeInfo.Approval == models.NodeApprovals.APPROVED
+		if nodeInfo.NodeType != models.NodeTypeCompute {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		if constraints.RequireApproval && nodeInfo.Approval != models.NodeApprovals.APPROVED {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		if constraints.RequireConnected && nodeInfo.State != models.NodeStates.CONNECTED {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		return true
 	})
 
 	if len(nodeIDs) == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/orchestrator/types.go b/pkg/orchestrator/types.go
index 1a5aad7cc8..5ce65b9501 100644
--- a/pkg/orchestrator/types.go
+++ b/pkg/orchestrator/types.go
@@ -78,3 +78,22 @@ func (r NodeRank) MarshalZerologObject(e *zerolog.Event) {
 type RetryRequest struct {
 	JobID string
 }
+
+type NodeSelectionConstraint struct {
+	RequireConnected bool
+	RequireApproval  bool
+}
+
+type NodeSelectionOption func(*NodeSelectionConstraint)
+
+func WithConnected(required bool) NodeSelectionOption {
+	return func(c *NodeSelectionConstraint) {
+		c.RequireConnected = required
+	}
+}
+
+func WithApproval(required bool) NodeSelectionOption {
+	return func(c *NodeSelectionConstraint) {
+		c.RequireApproval = required
+	}
+}