diff --git a/backend/src/services/dockerRunner.ts b/backend/src/services/dockerRunner.ts
index 2aeb50d..19e4c9c 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/dockerRunner.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/dockerRunner.ts
@@ -89,33 +89,6 @@ export async function pullRunnerImage(
 ): Promise<string> {
   const d = initDocker();
   const platform = `linux/${architecture}`;
-
-  const splitImageRef = (ref: string): { repo: string; tag: string } => {
-    const lastColon = ref.lastIndexOf(':');
-    const lastSlash = ref.lastIndexOf('/');
-    if (lastColon > lastSlash) {
-      return { repo: ref.slice(0, lastColon), tag: ref.slice(lastColon + 1) };
-    }
-    return { repo: ref, tag: 'latest' };
-  };
-
-  const { repo, tag: originalTag } = splitImageRef(RUNNER_IMAGE);
-  const archTag = `${originalTag}-${architecture}`;
-  const platformTag = `${repo}:${archTag}`;
-  
-  // Check if we already have the platform-specific tag with correct architecture
-  try {
-    const existingImage = await d.getImage(platformTag).inspect();
-    const imageArch = normalizeImageArchitecture(existingImage.Architecture);
-    
-    if (imageArch === architecture) {
-      console.log(`Image ${platformTag} already exists with correct architecture (${existingImage.Architecture})`);
-      return platformTag;
-    }
-    console.log(`Image ${platformTag} exists but has wrong architecture (${existingImage.Architecture}), re-pulling...`);
-  } catch {
-    // Image doesn't exist, need to pull
-  }
   
   console.log(`Pulling image ${RUNNER_IMAGE} for ${platform}...`);
   
@@ -140,23 +113,8 @@ export async function pullRunnerImage(
       });
     });
   });
-  
-  // Verify the pulled image has the correct architecture
-  const pulledImage = await d.getImage(RUNNER_IMAGE).inspect();
-  console.log(`Pulled image architecture: ${pulledImage.Architecture}`);
-  assertImageArchitecture(RUNNER_IMAGE, pulledImage.Architecture, architecture);
-  
-  // Tag the pulled image with architecture-specific tag
-  console.log(`Tagging image as ${platformTag}...`);
-  const image = d.getImage(RUNNER_IMAGE);
-  await image.tag({ repo, tag: archTag });
-  
-  // Verify the tagged image
-  const taggedImage = await d.getImage(platformTag).inspect();
-  console.log(`Tagged image ${platformTag} architecture: ${taggedImage.Architecture}`);
-  assertImageArchitecture(platformTag, taggedImage.Architecture, architecture);
-  
-  return platformTag;
+
+  return RUNNER_IMAGE;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/backend/src/services/reconciler.ts b/backend/src/services/reconciler.ts
index efb84a5..2518ed2 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/reconciler.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/reconciler.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ const getAllEnabledPools = db.prepare('SELECT * FROM runner_pools WHERE enabled
 const deleteRunner = db.prepare('DELETE FROM runners WHERE id = ?');
 const updateRunnerStatus = db.prepare('UPDATE runners SET status = ?, updated_at = datetime(\'now\') WHERE id = ?');
 
+export function shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck(status: string): boolean {
+  return status === 'pending' || status === 'configuring';
+}
+
 /**
  * Start the periodic reconciliation service
  */
@@ -157,6 +161,11 @@ async function reconcileRunnersInternal(): Promise<void> {
         for (const runner of localRunners) {
           stats.checked++;
 
+          // Newly provisioning runners are expected to not exist in GitHub yet.
+          if (shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck(runner.status)) {
+            continue;
+          }
+
           // Check if runner exists in GitHub (by ID or name)
           const existsInGitHub = 
             (runner.github_runner_id && ghRunnerIds.has(runner.github_runner_id)) ||
diff --git a/backend/src/services/runnerManager.ts b/backend/src/services/runnerManager.ts
index 6d7bbbd..f533675 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/runnerManager.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/runnerManager.ts
@@ -441,7 +441,12 @@ export async function downloadRunner(
   }
   
   // Cleanup archive
-  await fs.unlink(archivePath);
+  await fs.unlink(archivePath).catch((error: unknown) => {
+    const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+    if (code !== 'ENOENT') {
+      throw error;
+    }
+  });
   
   // Update runner directory in database
   updateRunnerDir.run(runnerDir, runnerId);
diff --git a/backend/tests/reconciler.test.ts b/backend/tests/reconciler.test.ts
index 5b507f1..7b42df6 100644
--- a/backend/tests/reconciler.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/reconciler.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import fs from 'fs/promises';
 import path from 'path';
 import os from 'os';
 import { db } from '../src/db/index.js';
+import { shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck } from '../src/services/reconciler.js';
 
 // Test directory for runner cleanup tests
 const TEST_RUNNERS_DIR = path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'action-packer-test-runners');
@@ -16,6 +17,18 @@ let cleanupOrphanedDirectories: () => Promise<number>;
 let withTimeout: <T>(promise: Promise<T>, ms: number, operation: string) => Promise<T>;
 
 describe('Reconciler', () => {
+  describe('shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck', () => {
+    it('skips pending and configuring runners', () => {
+      expect(shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck('pending')).toBe(true);
+      expect(shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck('configuring')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('does not skip online/offline runners', () => {
+      expect(shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck('online')).toBe(false);
+      expect(shouldSkipGitHubExistenceCheck('offline')).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('withTimeout', () => {
     beforeEach(async () => {
       // Dynamically import to get fresh module