diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 4874119ee..f8bb6b159 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ aliases:
 * BUGFIX: [vmoperator](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/): previously, recreating a resource after deletion could hang and block updates; now resource recreation completes normally. See [#1707](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/issues/1707).
 * BUGFIX: [vmoperator](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/): use global image registry unless image.repository is defined. See [#1813](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/issues/1813).
 * BUGFIX: [vmalertmanagerconfig](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanagerconfig/): previously spec.route and spec.receivers were required; now both parameters are optional to align with prometheus operator. VMAlertmanager now can be used to set just the global inhibition rules. See [#1800](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/issues/1800).
-* BUGFIX: [vmoperator](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/): use global image registry unless image.repository is defined. See [#1813](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/issues/1813).
 
 ## [v0.67.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/releases/tag/v0.67.0)
 **Release date:** 23 January 2026
diff --git a/internal/controller/operator/factory/reconcile/statefulset.go b/internal/controller/operator/factory/reconcile/statefulset.go
index be85a02a2..ddbef4b32 100644
--- a/internal/controller/operator/factory/reconcile/statefulset.go
+++ b/internal/controller/operator/factory/reconcile/statefulset.go
@@ -341,9 +341,8 @@ func PodIsReady(pod *corev1.Pod, minReadySeconds int32) bool {
 }
 
 func waitForPodReady(ctx context.Context, rclient client.Client, nsn types.NamespacedName, desiredRevision string, minReadySeconds int32) error {
-	var pod *corev1.Pod
+	var pod corev1.Pod
 	if err := wait.PollUntilContextTimeout(ctx, podWaitReadyIntervalCheck, podWaitReadyTimeout, true, func(_ context.Context) (done bool, err error) {
-		var pod corev1.Pod
 		err = rclient.Get(ctx, nsn, &pod)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot get pod: %q: %w", nsn, err)
@@ -358,10 +357,10 @@ func waitForPodReady(ctx context.Context, rclient client.Client, nsn types.Names
 		}
 		return PodIsReady(&pod, minReadySeconds), nil
 	}); err != nil {
-		if pod == nil {
+		if len(pod.Name) == 0 {
 			return err
 		}
-		return podStatusesToError(err, pod)
+		return podStatusesToError(err, &pod)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -442,7 +441,7 @@ func sortStsPodsByID(src []corev1.Pod) error {
 	return firstParseError
 }
 
-func isSTSPod(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
+func isOwnedBySTS(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
 	for _, ref := range pod.OwnerReferences {
 		if ref.Kind == "StatefulSet" {
 			return true
@@ -457,7 +456,7 @@ func filterSTSPods(pods []corev1.Pod, revision string, minReadySeconds int32, re
 		// pod could be owned by Deployment due to Deployment -> StatefulSet transition
 		isSameRevision := pod.Labels[podRevisionLabel] == revision
 		switch {
-		case !isSTSPod(&pod):
+		case !isOwnedBySTS(&pod):
 		case !pod.DeletionTimestamp.IsZero() || recreate:
 			podsForUpdate = append(podsForUpdate, pod)
 		case PodIsReady(&pod, minReadySeconds) && isSameRevision: