diff --git a/pkg/kube/Dockerfile b/pkg/kube/Dockerfile
index d7c3035c86..4628ce8437 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/Dockerfile
+++ b/pkg/kube/Dockerfile
@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ ARG TARGETARCH
 
 # Actual k3s install and config happens when this container starts during EVE bootup, look at cluster-init.sh
 ### NOTE: the version of virtctl should match the version of kubevirt in cluster_init.sh, else PVC creation might fail due to incompatibility
+COPY k3s-control.sh /usr/bin/k3s-control
+RUN chmod +x /usr/bin/k3s-control && \
+    ln -s /usr/bin/k3s-control /usr/bin/k3s-stop && \
+    ln -s /usr/bin/k3s-control /usr/bin/k3s-start && \
+    ln -s /usr/bin/k3s-control /usr/bin/k3s-status
+
 ENV VIRTCTL_VERSION v1.6.0
 ADD https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/releases/download/${VIRTCTL_VERSION}/virtctl-${VIRTCTL_VERSION}-linux-${TARGETARCH} .
 
diff --git a/pkg/kube/cluster-init.sh b/pkg/kube/cluster-init.sh
index 30c2f47d38..4588705f28 100755
--- a/pkg/kube/cluster-init.sh
+++ b/pkg/kube/cluster-init.sh
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ setup_prereqs () {
         modprobe iscsi_tcp
         #Needed for iscsi tools
         mkdir -p /run/lock
+        mkdir -p /run/kube
         rm -rf /var/log
         ln -s "$K3S_LOG_DIR" /var/log
         mkdir -p "$K3S_CONFIG_DIR"
@@ -251,6 +252,9 @@ config_cluster_roles() {
 }
 
 check_start_k3s() {
+  if [ -f "$K3S_STOP_FLAG" ]; then
+    return 1
+  fi
   # If cluster is in transition, wait until transition is complete
   if [ -f "$TRANSITION_FLAG_FILE" ]; then
     logmsg "Cluster transition in progress, waiting before starting k3s"
@@ -274,6 +278,13 @@ check_start_k3s() {
 
   pgrep -f "$K3S_SERVER_CMD" > /dev/null 2>&1
   if [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
+        # Reset backoff if a manual start was requested
+        if [ -f "$K3S_MANUAL_START_FLAG" ]; then
+                logmsg "Manual start requested, resetting restart backoff"
+                rm -f "$K3S_MANUAL_START_FLAG"
+                RESTART_COUNT=0
+                current_wait_time=$INITIAL_WAIT_TIME
+        fi
         # do exponential backoff for k3s restart, but not more than MAX_WAIT_TIME
         RESTART_COUNT=$((RESTART_COUNT+1))
         logmsg "k3s server not running, restart wait time $current_wait_time, restart count: $RESTART_COUNT"
diff --git a/pkg/kube/cluster-utils.sh b/pkg/kube/cluster-utils.sh
index d6b55b8109..13f5f7be40 100755
--- a/pkg/kube/cluster-utils.sh
+++ b/pkg/kube/cluster-utils.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ LOG_SIZE=$((5*1024*1024))
 K3s_LOG_FILE="k3s.log"
 SAVE_KUBE_VAR_LIB_DIR="/persist/kube-save-var-lib"
 K3S_SERVER_CMD="k3s server"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+K3S_STOP_FLAG="/var/lib/k3s-stop"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+K3S_MANUAL_START_FLAG="/run/kube/k3s-start"
 TIE_BREAKER_NODE_LABEL="tie-breaker-node"
 TIE_BREAKER_NODE_LABEL_SET_VALUE="true"
 TIE_BREAKER_NODE_LABEL_UNSET_VALUE="false"
diff --git a/pkg/kube/k3s-control.sh b/pkg/kube/k3s-control.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..c7011a3c17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kube/k3s-control.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2026 Zededa, Inc.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# Script to manually stop/start k3s for debugging purposes
+#
+
+K3S_LOG_DIR="/persist/kubelog"
+INSTALL_LOG="${K3S_LOG_DIR}/k3s-install.log"
+
+# shellcheck source=pkg/kube/cluster-utils.sh
+. /usr/bin/cluster-utils.sh
+
+# Wait for /var/lib to be ready (it might be a mount point)
+# But don't wait forever
+MAX_WAIT=30
+WAITED=0
+while [ ! -d /var/lib ] && [ $WAITED -lt $MAX_WAIT ]; do
+    sleep 1
+    WAITED=$((WAITED + 1))
+done
+
+ACTION="$1"
+if [ -z "$ACTION" ]; then
+    # Detect action from filename (e.g., k3s-stop -> stop)
+    ACTION=$(basename "$0" | sed 's/k3s-//')
+fi
+
+case "$ACTION" in
+    stop)
+        logmsg "Manual k3s stop requested"
+        mkdir -p "$(dirname "$K3S_STOP_FLAG")"
+        touch "$K3S_STOP_FLAG"
+        if terminate_k3s; then
+            logmsg "Manual k3s stop completed"
+            echo "k3s stopped"
+        else
+            logmsg "Manual k3s stop failed"
+            echo "Failed to stop k3s"
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        ;;
+    start)
+        logmsg "Manual k3s start requested"
+        rm -f "$K3S_STOP_FLAG"
+        touch "$K3S_MANUAL_START_FLAG"
+        logmsg "Removed stop flag, k3s should restart shortly"
+        echo "k3s start requested (monitor status with k3s-status)"
+        ;;
+    status)
+        pids=$(pgrep -f "$K3S_SERVER_CMD")
+        if [ -n "$pids" ]; then
+            echo "Status: Running (PIDs: $pids)"
+        else
+            echo "Status: Stopped"
+        fi
+
+        if [ -f "$K3S_STOP_FLAG" ]; then
+            echo "Stop Flag: Present ($K3S_STOP_FLAG)"
+        else
+            echo "Stop Flag: Absent"
+        fi
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") {stop|start|status}"
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+esac