diff --git a/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/nexus/operations_helper.rs b/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/nexus/operations_helper.rs
index 6bc5e5964..57ffe7b7d 100644
--- a/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/nexus/operations_helper.rs
+++ b/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/nexus/operations_helper.rs
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ use stor_port::types::v0::{
     },
 };
 
-use tracing::log::error;
-
 impl OperationGuardArc<NexusSpec> {
     /// Attach the specified replica to the volume nexus
     /// The replica might need to be shared/unshared so it can be opened by the nexus
@@ -143,9 +141,10 @@ impl OperationGuardArc<NexusSpec> {
                     replica_state.node.clone(),
                 );
                 if let Err(error) = node.set_replica_entity_id(&set_entity_id).await {
-                    error!(
-                        "Failed to set entity_id for the replica {}",
-                        error.to_string()
+                    tracing::error!(
+                        replica.uuid = %replica_state.uuid,
+                        %error,
+                        "Failed to set entity_id",
                     );
                 }
             }
diff --git a/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/node/wrapper.rs b/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/node/wrapper.rs
index 8d3c02ddb..d033887ef 100644
--- a/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/node/wrapper.rs
+++ b/control-plane/agents/src/bin/core/node/wrapper.rs
@@ -1283,22 +1283,15 @@ impl ReplicaApi for Arc<tokio::sync::RwLock<NodeWrapper>> {
 
                 Ok(replica)
             }
-            Err(SvcError::GrpcRequestError { source, .. })
-                if source.code() == tonic::Code::DataLoss =>
-            {
-                Err(SvcError::ReplicaSetPropertyFailed {
-                    attribute: "entity_id".to_string(),
-                    replica: request.uuid.to_string(),
-                })
-            }
             Err(error) => {
                 let mut ctx = dataplane.reconnect(GETS_TIMEOUT).await?;
                 self.update_pool_replica_states(ctx.deref_mut()).await?;
 
                 match self.read().await.replicas().into_iter().find(|replica| {
-                    replica.uuid == request.uuid
+                    (replica.uuid == request.uuid
                         || replica.name
-                            == ReplicaName::from_opt_uuid(request.name.as_ref(), &request.uuid)
+                            == ReplicaName::from_opt_uuid(request.name.as_ref(), &request.uuid))
+                        && replica.entity_id == request.entity_id
                 }) {
                     Some(replica) => Ok(replica),
                     None => Err(error),
@@ -1420,6 +1413,7 @@ impl ReplicaApi for Arc<tokio::sync::RwLock<NodeWrapper>> {
                 Err(SvcError::ReplicaSetPropertyFailed {
                     attribute: "entity_id".to_string(),
                     replica: request.uuid().to_string(),
+                    source,
                 })
             }
             Err(error) => Err(error),
diff --git a/control-plane/agents/src/common/errors.rs b/control-plane/agents/src/common/errors.rs
index 41cf63e56..e0a7557e7 100644
--- a/control-plane/agents/src/common/errors.rs
+++ b/control-plane/agents/src/common/errors.rs
@@ -402,8 +402,12 @@ pub enum SvcError {
         replicas: u8,
         id: String,
     },
-    #[snafu(display("Cannot set '{attribute}' on Replica '{replica}'"))]
-    ReplicaSetPropertyFailed { attribute: String, replica: String },
+    #[snafu(display("Cannot set '{attribute}' on Replica '{replica}: {source}'"))]
+    ReplicaSetPropertyFailed {
+        attribute: String,
+        replica: String,
+        source: tonic::Status,
+    },
 }
 
 impl SvcError {
diff --git a/utils/platform/src/k8s/mod.rs b/utils/platform/src/k8s/mod.rs
index 658c2becd..279afd8a2 100644
--- a/utils/platform/src/k8s/mod.rs
+++ b/utils/platform/src/k8s/mod.rs
@@ -19,12 +19,24 @@ impl K8s {
     /// Create new `Self` from a given `Client`.
     pub async fn from(client: Client) -> Result<Self, PlatformError> {
         let platform_uuid = Self::fetch_platform_uuid(client).await?;
+        // todo: should we use the default namespace from the client?
         let platform_ns = std::env::var("MY_POD_NAMESPACE").unwrap_or_else(|_| "default".into());
         Ok(Self {
             platform_uuid,
             platform_ns,
         })
     }
+    /// Create new `Self` from a given `Client` and namespace.
+    /// This may be necessary if we're running outside of the cluster itself, which
+    /// means that MY_POD_NAMESPACE itself is not available... Perhaps using a client
+    /// configured with the namespace as default would be better.
+    pub async fn from_custom(client: Client, namespace: &str) -> Result<Self, PlatformError> {
+        let platform_uuid = Self::fetch_platform_uuid(client).await?;
+        Ok(Self {
+            platform_uuid,
+            platform_ns: namespace.to_string(),
+        })
+    }
     async fn fetch_platform_uuid(client: Client) -> Result<PlatformUid, PlatformError> {
         let namespaces: Api<Namespace> = Api::all(client);
         let ns = namespaces