diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9fbef786b1b1..9dca4ac56873 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ Main (unreleased)
 - Grafana Agent Operator: `config-reloader` container no longer runs as root.
   (@rootmout)
 
+- Allow agent to start with `module.git` config if cached before. (@hainenber)
+
 ### Bugfixes
 
 - Fixed an issue where `loki.process` validation for stage `metric.counter` was
diff --git a/component/module/git/git.go b/component/module/git/git.go
index 42ac468477de..f086c70c6876 100644
--- a/component/module/git/git.go
+++ b/component/module/git/git.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package git
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
 	"sync"
@@ -193,8 +194,13 @@ func (c *Component) Update(args component.Arguments) (err error) {
 	}
 
 	// Create or update the repo field.
+	// Failure to update repository makes the module loader temporarily use cached contents on disk
+	var updateVcsErr vcs.UpdateFailedError
 	if c.repo == nil || !reflect.DeepEqual(repoOpts, c.repoOpts) {
 		r, err := vcs.NewGitRepo(context.Background(), repoPath, repoOpts)
+		if errors.As(err, &updateVcsErr) {
+			level.Error(c.log).Log("msg", "failed to update repository", "err", err)
+		}
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -220,8 +226,13 @@ func (c *Component) Update(args component.Arguments) (err error) {
 // controller. pollFile must only be called with c.mut held.
 func (c *Component) pollFile(ctx context.Context, args Arguments) error {
 	// Make sure our repo is up-to-date.
+	var updateVcsErr *vcs.UpdateFailedError
 	if err := c.repo.Update(ctx); err != nil {
-		return err
+		if errors.As(err, &updateVcsErr) {
+			level.Error(c.log).Log("msg", "failed to update repository", "err", err)
+		} else {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Finally, configure our controller.
diff --git a/component/module/git/internal/vcs/git.go b/component/module/git/internal/vcs/git.go
index 8209190b90da..76959a30b316 100644
--- a/component/module/git/internal/vcs/git.go
+++ b/component/module/git/internal/vcs/git.go
@@ -58,15 +58,15 @@ func NewGitRepo(ctx context.Context, storagePath string, opts GitRepoOptions) (*
 	}
 
 	// Fetch the latest contents. This may be a no-op if we just did a clone.
-	err = repo.FetchContext(ctx, &git.FetchOptions{
+	fetchRepoErr := repo.FetchContext(ctx, &git.FetchOptions{
 		RemoteName: "origin",
 		Force:      true,
 		Auth:       opts.Auth.Convert(),
 	})
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, git.NoErrAlreadyUpToDate) {
-		return nil, UpdateFailedError{
+	if fetchRepoErr != nil && !errors.Is(fetchRepoErr, git.NoErrAlreadyUpToDate) {
+		err = UpdateFailedError{
 			Repository: opts.Repository,
-			Inner:      err,
+			Inner:      fetchRepoErr,
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func NewGitRepo(ctx context.Context, storagePath string, opts GitRepoOptions) (*
 		opts:     opts,
 		repo:     repo,
 		workTree: workTree,
-	}, nil
+	}, err
 }
 
 func isRepoCloned(dir string) bool {
@@ -103,15 +103,16 @@ func isRepoCloned(dir string) bool {
 // Update updates the repository by fetching new content and re-checking out to
 // latest version of Revision.
 func (repo *GitRepo) Update(ctx context.Context) error {
-	err := repo.repo.FetchContext(ctx, &git.FetchOptions{
+	var err error
+	fetchRepoErr := repo.repo.FetchContext(ctx, &git.FetchOptions{
 		RemoteName: "origin",
 		Force:      true,
 		Auth:       repo.opts.Auth.Convert(),
 	})
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, git.NoErrAlreadyUpToDate) {
-		return UpdateFailedError{
+	if fetchRepoErr != nil && !errors.Is(fetchRepoErr, git.NoErrAlreadyUpToDate) {
+		err = UpdateFailedError{
 			Repository: repo.opts.Repository,
-			Inner:      err,
+			Inner:      fetchRepoErr,
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ func (repo *GitRepo) Update(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return nil
+	return err
 }
 
 // ReadFile returns a file from the repository specified by path.