diff --git a/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller.go b/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller.go
index 382098511c00..8835e8e479d5 100644
--- a/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller.go
+++ b/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller.go
@@ -699,6 +699,9 @@ func isAutoscalingEnabled(nodePool *hyperv1.NodePool) bool {
 }
 
 func defaultNodePoolAMI(region string, specifiedArch string, releaseImage *releaseinfo.ReleaseImage) (string, error) {
+	if releaseImage.StreamMetadata == nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("release image stream metadata is nil")
+	}
 	arch, foundArch := releaseImage.StreamMetadata.Architectures[hyperv1.ArchAliases[specifiedArch]]
 	if !foundArch {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("couldn't find OS metadata for architecture %q", specifiedArch)
diff --git a/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller_test.go b/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller_test.go
index edfc83ef57a1..1f2320929859 100644
--- a/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller_test.go
+++ b/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/nodepool_controller_test.go
@@ -567,6 +567,15 @@ func TestDefaultNodePoolAMI(t *testing.T) {
 			specifiedArch: "arm64",
 			expectedImage: "",
 		},
+		{
+			name:          "fail because stream metadata is nil",
+			region:        "us-east-1",
+			specifiedArch: "amd64",
+			releaseImage: &releaseinfo.ReleaseImage{
+				StreamMetadata: nil,
+			},
+			expectedImage: "",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
@@ -596,7 +605,9 @@ func TestDefaultNodePoolAMI(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			ctx := t.Context()
-			tc.releaseImage = fakereleaseprovider.GetReleaseImage(ctx, hc, client, releaseProvider)
+			if tc.releaseImage == nil {
+				tc.releaseImage = fakereleaseprovider.GetReleaseImage(ctx, hc, client, releaseProvider)
+			}
 
 			tc.image, tc.err = defaultNodePoolAMI(tc.region, tc.specifiedArch, tc.releaseImage)
 			if strings.Contains(tc.name, "successfully") {
@@ -608,6 +619,9 @@ func TestDefaultNodePoolAMI(t *testing.T) {
 			} else if strings.Contains(tc.name, "fail because architecture") {
 				g.Expect(tc.image).To(BeEmpty())
 				g.Expect(tc.err.Error()).To(Equal("couldn't find OS metadata for architecture \"" + tc.specifiedArch + "\""))
+			} else if strings.Contains(tc.name, "stream metadata is nil") {
+				g.Expect(tc.image).To(BeEmpty())
+				g.Expect(tc.err.Error()).To(Equal("release image stream metadata is nil"))
 			} else {
 				g.Expect(tc.image).To(BeEmpty())
 				g.Expect(tc.err.Error()).To(Equal("release image metadata has no image for region \"" + tc.region + "\""))
diff --git a/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/token.go b/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/token.go
index 2a9f9023e2c2..9f0b759a4db6 100644
--- a/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/token.go
+++ b/hypershift-operator/controllers/nodepool/token.go
@@ -135,7 +135,9 @@ func NewToken(ctx context.Context, configGenerator *ConfigGenerator, cpoCapabili
 	globalconfig.ReconcileProxyConfigWithStatusFromHostedCluster(proxy, configGenerator.hostedCluster)
 
 	ami := ""
-	if configGenerator.hostedCluster.Spec.Platform.AWS != nil {
+	if configGenerator.nodePool.Spec.Platform.AWS != nil && configGenerator.nodePool.Spec.Platform.AWS.AMI != "" {
+		ami = configGenerator.nodePool.Spec.Platform.AWS.AMI
+	} else if configGenerator.hostedCluster.Spec.Platform.AWS != nil {
 		ami, err = defaultNodePoolAMI(configGenerator.hostedCluster.Spec.Platform.AWS.Region, configGenerator.nodePool.Spec.Arch, configGenerator.releaseImage)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err