diff --git a/pkg/controller/baremetalhost/host_state_machine.go b/pkg/controller/baremetalhost/host_state_machine.go
index 065071930e..9364d8cd1a 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/baremetalhost/host_state_machine.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/baremetalhost/host_state_machine.go
@@ -206,6 +206,11 @@ func (hsm *hostStateMachine) handleRegistrationError(info *reconcileInfo) action
 		hsm.NextState = metal3v1alpha1.StateRegistering
 		return actionComplete{}
 	}
+	if hsm.Host.Spec.Image != nil {
+		info.log.Info("Image is set; will retry registration")
+		hsm.NextState = metal3v1alpha1.StateRegistering
+		return actionComplete{}
+	}
 	return actionFailed{}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic.go b/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic.go
index a15e38ae0b..f640cb134f 100644
--- a/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic.go
+++ b/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic.go
@@ -398,11 +398,6 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) ValidateManagementAccess(credentialsChanged bool) (r
 		}
 	}
 
-	// ironicNode, err = nodes.Get(p.client, p.status.ID).Extract()
-	// if err != nil {
-	// 	return result, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get provisioning state in ironic")
-	// }
-
 	p.log.Info("current provision state",
 		"lastError", ironicNode.LastError,
 		"current", ironicNode.ProvisionState,
@@ -594,15 +589,7 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) UpdateHardwareState() (result provisioner.Result, er
 	return result, nil
 }
 
-func (p *ironicProvisioner) getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode *nodes.Node) (updates nodes.UpdateOpts, err error) {
-
-	hwProf, err := hardware.GetProfile(p.host.HardwareProfile())
-
-	if err != nil {
-		return updates, errors.Wrap(err,
-			fmt.Sprintf("Could not start provisioning with bad hardware profile %s",
-				p.host.HardwareProfile()))
-	}
+func (p *ironicProvisioner) getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode *nodes.Node, forProvisioning bool) (updates nodes.UpdateOpts, err error) {
 
 	// image_source
 	var op nodes.UpdateOp
@@ -622,7 +609,10 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode *nodes.Node) (update
 		},
 	)
 
-	checksum, checksumType, _ := p.host.GetImageChecksum()
+	checksum, checksumType, imageOK := p.host.GetImageChecksum()
+	if !imageOK {
+		return updates, fmt.Errorf("missing or invalid image details")
+	}
 
 	// image_os_hash_algo
 	if _, ok := ironicNode.InstanceInfo["image_os_hash_algo"]; !ok {
@@ -703,6 +693,18 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode *nodes.Node) (update
 		},
 	)
 
+	if !forProvisioning {
+		return updates, nil
+	}
+
+	hwProf, err := hardware.GetProfile(p.host.HardwareProfile())
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return updates, errors.Wrap(err,
+			fmt.Sprintf("Could not start provisioning with bad hardware profile %s",
+				p.host.HardwareProfile()))
+	}
+
 	// root_gb
 	//
 	// FIXME(dhellmann): We have to provide something for the disk
@@ -791,8 +793,7 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode *nodes.Node) (update
 	)
 
 	// boot_mode
-	_, ok := ironicNode.InstanceInfo["deploy_boot_mode"]
-	if !ok {
+	if _, ok := ironicNode.InstanceInfo["deploy_boot_mode"]; !ok {
 		op = nodes.AddOp
 	} else {
 		op = nodes.ReplaceOp
@@ -818,7 +819,7 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) startProvisioning(ironicNode *nodes.Node, hostConf p
 
 	p.log.Info("starting provisioning", "node properties", ironicNode.Properties)
 
-	updates, err := p.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode)
+	updates, err := p.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode, true)
 	_, err = nodes.Update(p.client, ironicNode.UUID, updates).Extract()
 	switch err.(type) {
 	case nil:
@@ -892,6 +893,31 @@ func (p *ironicProvisioner) Adopt() (result provisioner.Result, err error) {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("Invalid state for adopt: %s",
 			ironicNode.ProvisionState)
 	case nodes.Manageable:
+		if p.host.Spec.Image == nil {
+			// Without an image, adoption will fail. We can stop and
+			// wait for the image to be set, but we need to do that in
+			// a way that ensures we don't enter the states where we
+			// try to manage the host power status. Setting our own
+			// error message here avoids exposing the error message
+			// from Ironic that talks about fields in Ironic with
+			// names the user may not recognize.
+			result.ErrorMessage = "Image details missing for externally provisioned server."
+			return
+		}
+
+		updates, err := p.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode, false)
+		_, err = nodes.Update(p.client, ironicNode.UUID, updates).Extract()
+		switch err.(type) {
+		case nil:
+		case gophercloud.ErrDefault409:
+			p.log.Info("could not update host settings in ironic while adopting, busy")
+			result.Dirty = true
+			return result, nil
+		default:
+			return result, errors.Wrap(err,
+				"failed to update host settings in ironic while adopting")
+		}
+
 		return p.changeNodeProvisionState(
 			ironicNode,
 			nodes.ProvisionStateOpts{
diff --git a/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic_test.go b/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic_test.go
index 19e19ccd77..0a7dec940a 100644
--- a/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic_test.go
+++ b/pkg/provisioner/ironic/ironic_test.go
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ func TestGetUpdateOptsForNodeWithRootHints(t *testing.T) {
 	prov, err := newProvisioner(makeHost(), bmc.Credentials{}, eventPublisher)
 	ironicNode := &nodes.Node{}
 
-	patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode)
+	patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ func TestGetUpdateOptsForNodeVirtual(t *testing.T) {
 	prov, err := newProvisioner(host, bmc.Credentials{}, eventPublisher)
 	ironicNode := &nodes.Node{}
 
-	patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode)
+	patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ func TestGetUpdateOptsForNodeDell(t *testing.T) {
 	prov, err := newProvisioner(host, bmc.Credentials{}, eventPublisher)
 	ironicNode := &nodes.Node{}
 
-	patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode)
+	patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(ironicNode, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ func TestGetUpdateOptsForNodeBootMode(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			prov, err := newProvisioner(&host, bmc.Credentials{}, eventPublisher)
-			patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(&tc.Node)
+			patches, err := prov.getUpdateOptsForNode(&tc.Node, true)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
@@ -506,7 +506,8 @@ func makeHost() *metal3v1alpha1.BareMetalHost {
 		},
 		Spec: metal3v1alpha1.BareMetalHostSpec{
 			Image: &metal3v1alpha1.Image{
-				URL: "not-empty",
+				URL:      "not-empty",
+				Checksum: "not-empty",
 			},
 			Online:          true,
 			HardwareProfile: "libvirt",