diff --git a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/main.go b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/main.go
index 28b491ac8..c69fea6d8 100644
--- a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/main.go
+++ b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/main.go
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ func startDaemons(c *cli.Context, cfg *Config) ([]*mps.Daemon, bool, error) {
 			return mpsDaemons, true, nil
 		}
 	}
-	readyFile, err := os.Create("/mps/.ready")
+	readyFile, err := os.Create(mps.ContainerRoot.ReadyFilePath())
 	if err != nil {
 		return mpsDaemons, true, fmt.Errorf("failed to create .ready file")
 	}
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ func startDaemons(c *cli.Context, cfg *Config) ([]*mps.Daemon, bool, error) {
 }
 
 func stopDaemons(mpsDaemons ...*mps.Daemon) error {
-	if err := os.Remove("/mps/.ready"); err != nil {
+	if err := os.Remove(mps.ContainerRoot.ReadyFilePath()); err != nil {
 		klog.Warningf("Failed to remove .ready file: %v", err)
 	}
 	klog.Info("Stopping MPS daemons.")
diff --git a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon.go b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon.go
index 0351289cc..610c76b49 100644
--- a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon.go
+++ b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon.go
@@ -206,6 +206,16 @@ func (d *Daemon) AssertHealthy() error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// Ready returns true once the MPS daemons have signalled that initialization
+// has completed by creating the node-global .ready file under the MPS root.
+// AssertHealthy only proves the control pipe is responsive, which happens
+// before per-device memory limits and thread percentages are applied; Ready
+// gates on the full configuration being in place.
+func (d *Daemon) Ready() bool {
+	_, err := os.Stat(d.root.ReadyFilePath())
+	return err == nil
+}
+
 // EchoPipeToControl sends the specified command to the MPS control daemon.
 func (d *Daemon) EchoPipeToControl(command string) (string, error) {
 	var out bytes.Buffer
diff --git a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon_test.go b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5e5c97f5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/daemon_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/**
+# Copyright 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+**/
+
+package mps
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestReadyFilePath(t *testing.T) {
+	require.Equal(t, "/mps/.ready", ContainerRoot.ReadyFilePath())
+	require.Equal(t, "/custom/root/.ready", Root("/custom/root").ReadyFilePath())
+}
+
+func TestDaemonReady(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	d := &Daemon{root: Root(root)}
+
+	// No .ready file yet: the daemon must not report ready. This is the window
+	// in which AssertHealthy can already succeed (control pipe responsive)
+	// while per-device memory/thread configuration is not yet applied.
+	require.False(t, d.Ready(), "daemon must not be ready before the .ready file exists")
+
+	// Once the MPS control daemon has finished initialization it creates the
+	// .ready file; the daemon must then report ready.
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(root, ".ready"), nil, 0o644))
+	require.True(t, d.Ready(), "daemon must be ready once the .ready file exists")
+
+	// Removing the file (e.g. on daemon stop) flips readiness back to false.
+	require.NoError(t, os.Remove(filepath.Join(root, ".ready")))
+	require.False(t, d.Ready(), "daemon must not be ready after the .ready file is removed")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/root.go b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/root.go
index 90655d12e..b3378d94f 100644
--- a/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/root.go
+++ b/cmd/mps-control-daemon/mps/root.go
@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@ func (r Root) startedFile(resourceName spec.ResourceName) string {
 	return r.Path(string(resourceName), ".started")
 }
 
+// ReadyFilePath returns the path to the node-global .ready file. Unlike the
+// per-resource .started file, this single marker is created only after all MPS
+// daemons have completed initialization (compute mode, pinned memory limits,
+// and active thread percentage). Consumers such as the device plugin use it to
+// avoid advertising MPS-shared resources before the daemons are fully
+// configured.
+func (r Root) ReadyFilePath() string {
+	return r.Path(".ready")
+}
+
 // Path returns a path relative to the MPS root.
 func (r Root) Path(parts ...string) string {
 	pathparts := append([]string{string(r)}, parts...)
diff --git a/internal/plugin/mps.go b/internal/plugin/mps.go
index 763e94367..5c678734e 100644
--- a/internal/plugin/mps.go
+++ b/internal/plugin/mps.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package plugin
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 	pluginapi "k8s.io/kubelet/pkg/apis/deviceplugin/v1beta1"
@@ -28,6 +29,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/NVIDIA/k8s-device-plugin/internal/rm"
 )
 
+const (
+	// mpsReadyCheckInterval is how often we poll for MPS daemon readiness.
+	mpsReadyCheckInterval = 5 * time.Second
+	// mpsReadyCheckTimeout bounds how long we wait for the MPS daemon to become
+	// ready before giving up. On timeout the caller (plugin startup) fails and
+	// is retried by the plugin manager, so this is an upper bound per attempt.
+	mpsReadyCheckTimeout = 5 * time.Minute
+)
+
 type mpsOptions struct {
 	enabled      bool
 	resourceName spec.ResourceName
@@ -62,12 +72,36 @@ func (m *mpsOptions) waitForDaemon() error {
 	if m == nil || !m.enabled {
 		return nil
 	}
-	// TODO: Check the .ready file here.
-	// TODO: Have some retry strategy here.
+
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(mpsReadyCheckTimeout)
+	for {
+		err := m.checkDaemonReady()
+		if err == nil {
+			klog.InfoS("MPS daemon is ready", "resource", m.resourceName)
+			return nil
+		}
+		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("timed out waiting for MPS daemon for %v: %w", m.resourceName, err)
+		}
+		klog.InfoS("Waiting for MPS daemon to be ready", "resource", m.resourceName, "reason", err)
+		time.Sleep(mpsReadyCheckInterval)
+	}
+}
+
+// checkDaemonReady reports whether the MPS daemon has finished initialization.
+// It requires both that the daemon has signalled readiness via its .ready file
+// (created only after compute mode, pinned memory limits, and thread
+// percentages are applied) and that the control pipe is responsive. Checking
+// only AssertHealthy is insufficient: the pipe becomes responsive before the
+// per-device configuration is in place, so a pod scheduled in that window
+// could run without the configured MPS memory/thread limits.
+func (m *mpsOptions) checkDaemonReady() error {
+	if !m.daemon.Ready() {
+		return fmt.Errorf("MPS daemon has not signalled readiness")
+	}
 	if err := m.daemon.AssertHealthy(); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("error checking MPS daemon health: %w", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("MPS daemon is not healthy: %w", err)
 	}
-	klog.InfoS("MPS daemon is healthy", "resource", m.resourceName)
 	return nil
 }