diff --git a/pkg/mcr/mcr.go b/pkg/mcr/mcr.go
index 57e262a3..0c575385 100644
--- a/pkg/mcr/mcr.go
+++ b/pkg/mcr/mcr.go
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@ package mcr
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	"github.com/Mirantis/mcc/pkg/constant"
 	"github.com/Mirantis/mcc/pkg/product/mke/api"
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
-func EnsureMCRVersion(h *api.Host, specMcrVersion string) error {
+// EnsureMCRVersion ensure that MCR is running after install/upgrade, and update the host information
+// @NOTE will reboot the machine if MCR isn't detected, and MCR can be force restarted if desired (I could drop the mcr restart, but I kept it in case we want a run-time flag for it.)
+// @SEE PRODENG-2789 : we no longer perform version checks, as the MCR versions don't always match the spec string.
+func EnsureMCRVersion(h *api.Host, specMcrVersion string, forceMCRRestart bool) error {
 	currentVersion, err := h.MCRVersion()
 	if err != nil {
 		if err := h.Reboot(); err != nil {
@@ -17,8 +20,7 @@ func EnsureMCRVersion(h *api.Host, specMcrVersion string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s: failed to query container runtime version after installation: %w", h, err)
 		}
-	}
-	if currentVersion != specMcrVersion {
+	} else if !forceMCRRestart {
 		err = h.Configurer.RestartMCR(h)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s: failed to restart container runtime: %w", h, err)
@@ -28,8 +30,10 @@ func EnsureMCRVersion(h *api.Host, specMcrVersion string) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s: failed to query container runtime version after restart: %w", h, err)
 		}
 	}
-	if currentVersion != specMcrVersion {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w: container runtime version not %s after upgrade", h, constant.ErrVersionMismatch, specMcrVersion)
-	}
+
+	log.Infof("%s: mirantis container runtime version %s (requested:%s)", h, currentVersion, specMcrVersion)
+	h.Metadata.MCRVersion = currentVersion
+	h.Metadata.MCRRestartRequired = false
+
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/product/mke/phase/install_mcr.go b/pkg/product/mke/phase/install_mcr.go
index f1da0e95..d5dc4121 100644
--- a/pkg/product/mke/phase/install_mcr.go
+++ b/pkg/product/mke/phase/install_mcr.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (p *InstallMCR) Run() error {
 }
 
 func (p *InstallMCR) installMCR(h *api.Host) error {
-	err := retry.Do(
+	if err := retry.Do(
 		func() error {
 			log.Infof("%s: installing container runtime (%s)", h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version)
 			if err := h.Configurer.InstallMCR(h, h.Metadata.MCRInstallScript, p.Config.Spec.MCR); err != nil {
@@ -62,22 +62,19 @@ func (p *InstallMCR) installMCR(h *api.Host) error {
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
-	)
-	if err != nil {
+	); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("retry count exceeded: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	if err := h.AuthorizeDocker(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s: failed to authorize docker: %w", h, err)
 	}
-	err = mcr.EnsureMCRVersion(h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version)
-	if err != nil {
+
+	// check MCR is running, maybe rebooting and updating metadata (don't bother restarting MCR, as we just installed/started it
+	if err := mcr.EnsureMCRVersion(h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version, false); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed while attempting to ensure the installed version %w", err)
 	}
 
-	log.Infof("%s: mirantis container runtime version %s installed", h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version)
-	h.Metadata.MCRVersion = p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version
-	h.Metadata.MCRRestartRequired = false
 	h.Metadata.MCRInstalled = true
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/product/mke/phase/upgrade_mcr.go b/pkg/product/mke/phase/upgrade_mcr.go
index b4cb1dd4..5ea58ec1 100644
--- a/pkg/product/mke/phase/upgrade_mcr.go
+++ b/pkg/product/mke/phase/upgrade_mcr.go
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ func (p *UpgradeMCR) upgradeMCRs() error {
 }
 
 func (p *UpgradeMCR) upgradeMCR(h *api.Host) error {
-	err := retry.Do(
+	if err := retry.Do(
 		func() error {
 			log.Infof("%s: upgrading container runtime (%s -> %s)", h, h.Metadata.MCRVersion, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version)
 			if err := h.Configurer.InstallMCR(h, h.Metadata.MCRInstallScript, p.Config.Spec.MCR); err != nil {
@@ -171,18 +171,15 @@ func (p *UpgradeMCR) upgradeMCR(h *api.Host) error {
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
-	)
-	if err != nil {
+	); err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("%s: failed to update container runtime -> %s", h, err.Error())
 		return fmt.Errorf("retry count exceeded: %w", err)
 	}
-	err = mcr.EnsureMCRVersion(h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version)
-	if err != nil {
+
+	// check MCR is running, and updating metadata
+	if err := mcr.EnsureMCRVersion(h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version, false); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed while attempting to ensure the installed version: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	log.Infof("%s: upgraded to mirantis container runtime version %s", h, p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version)
-	h.Metadata.MCRVersion = p.Config.Spec.MCR.Version
-	h.Metadata.MCRRestartRequired = false
 	return nil
 }