diff --git a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/common/K8sGenericStub.java b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/common/K8sGenericStub.java
index 688f43f..2af4d1b 100644
--- a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/common/K8sGenericStub.java
+++ b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/common/K8sGenericStub.java
@@ -196,51 +196,52 @@ public class K8sGenericStub<O extends KubernetesObject,
      * Updates the object's status.
      *
      * @param object the current state of the object (passed to `status`)
-     * @param status function that returns the new status
+     * @param updater function that returns the new status
      * @return the updated model or empty if the object was not found
      * @throws ApiException the api exception
      */
     @SuppressWarnings("PMD.AssignmentInOperand")
-    public Optional<O> updateStatus(O object, Function<O, Object> status)
+    public Optional<O> updateStatus(O object, Function<O, Object> updater)
             throws ApiException {
-        return K8s.optional(api.updateStatus(object, status));
+        return K8s.optional(api.updateStatus(object, updater));
     }
 
     /**
      * Gets the object and updates the status. In case of conflict, retries
      * up to `retries` times.
      *
-     * @param status the status
+     * @param updater the function updating the status
      * @param retries the retries in case of conflict
      * @return the updated model or empty if the object was not found
      * @throws ApiException the api exception
      */
     @SuppressWarnings({ "PMD.AssignmentInOperand", "PMD.UnusedAssignment" })
-    public Optional<O> updateStatus(Function<O, Object> status, int retries)
+    public Optional<O> updateStatus(Function<O, Object> updater, int retries)
             throws ApiException {
-        try {
-            return updateStatus(api.get(namespace, name).throwsApiException()
-                .getObject(), status);
-        } catch (ApiException e) {
-            if (HttpURLConnection.HTTP_CONFLICT != e.getCode()
-                || retries-- <= 0) {
-                throw e;
+        while (true) {
+            try {
+                return updateStatus(api.get(namespace, name)
+                    .throwsApiException().getObject(), updater);
+            } catch (ApiException e) {
+                if (HttpURLConnection.HTTP_CONFLICT != e.getCode()
+                    || retries-- <= 0) {
+                    throw e;
+                }
             }
         }
-        return Optional.empty();
     }
 
     /**
-     * Updates the status.
+     * Updates the status. In case of conflict, retries up to 16 times.
      *
-     * @param status the status
+     * @param updater the function updating the status
      * @return the kubernetes api response
      * the updated model or empty if not successful
      * @throws ApiException the api exception
      */
-    public Optional<O> updateStatus(Function<O, Object> status)
+    public Optional<O> updateStatus(Function<O, Object> updater)
             throws ApiException {
-        return updateStatus(status, 16);
+        return updateStatus(updater, 16);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/ConsoleTracker.java b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/ConsoleTracker.java
index b91b5df..7956fa1 100644
--- a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/ConsoleTracker.java
+++ b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/ConsoleTracker.java
@@ -106,10 +106,9 @@ public class ConsoleTracker extends VmDefUpdater {
         mainChannelClientHost = event.clientHost();
         mainChannelClientPort = event.clientPort();
         vmStub.updateStatus(from -> {
-            JsonObject status = from.statusJson();
+            JsonObject status = updateCondition(from, "ConsoleConnected", true,
+                "Connected", "Connection from " + event.clientHost());
             status.addProperty("consoleClient", event.clientHost());
-            updateCondition(from, status, "ConsoleConnected", true, "Connected",
-                "Connection from " + event.clientHost());
             return status;
         });
 
@@ -141,10 +140,9 @@ public class ConsoleTracker extends VmDefUpdater {
             return;
         }
         vmStub.updateStatus(from -> {
-            JsonObject status = from.statusJson();
-            status.addProperty("consoleClient", "");
-            updateCondition(from, status, "ConsoleConnected", false,
+            JsonObject status = updateCondition(from, "ConsoleConnected", false,
                 "Disconnected", event.clientHost() + " has disconnected");
+            status.addProperty("consoleClient", "");
             return status;
         });
 
diff --git a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/StatusUpdater.java b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/StatusUpdater.java
index eeee5ac..b4608b3 100644
--- a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/StatusUpdater.java
+++ b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/StatusUpdater.java
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ public class StatusUpdater extends VmDefUpdater {
                     "displayPasswordSerial").getAsInt() == -1)) {
             return;
         }
-        vmStub.updateStatus(vmDef.get(), from -> {
+        vmStub.updateStatus(from -> {
             JsonObject status = from.statusJson();
             if (!event.configuration().hasDisplayPassword) {
                 status.addProperty("displayPasswordSerial", -1);
@@ -183,12 +183,11 @@ public class StatusUpdater extends VmDefUpdater {
         if (vmStub == null || (vmDef = vmStub.model().orElse(null)) == null) {
             return;
         }
-        vmStub.updateStatus(vmDef, from -> {
-            JsonObject status = from.statusJson();
+        vmStub.updateStatus(from -> {
             boolean running = event.runState().vmRunning();
-            updateCondition(vmDef, vmDef.statusJson(), "Running", running,
-                event.reason(), event.message());
-            updateCondition(vmDef, vmDef.statusJson(), "Booted",
+            updateCondition(vmDef, "Running", running, event.reason(),
+                event.message());
+            JsonObject status = updateCondition(vmDef, "Booted",
                 event.runState() == RunState.BOOTED, event.reason(),
                 event.message());
             if (event.runState() == RunState.STARTING) {
@@ -203,13 +202,13 @@ public class StatusUpdater extends VmDefUpdater {
             if (!running) {
                 // In case console connection was still present
                 status.addProperty("consoleClient", "");
-                updateCondition(from, status, "ConsoleConnected", false,
-                    "VmStopped", "The VM is not running");
+                updateCondition(from, "ConsoleConnected", false, "VmStopped",
+                    "The VM is not running");
 
                 // In case we had an irregular shutdown
                 status.remove("osinfo");
-                updateCondition(vmDef, vmDef.statusJson(), "VmopAgentConnected",
-                    false, "VmStopped", "The VM is not running");
+                updateCondition(vmDef, "VmopAgentConnected", false, "VmStopped",
+                    "The VM is not running");
             }
             return status;
         });
@@ -340,10 +339,8 @@ public class StatusUpdater extends VmDefUpdater {
             return;
         }
         vmStub.updateStatus(from -> {
-            JsonObject status = from.statusJson();
-            updateCondition(vmDef, status, "VmopAgentConnected",
+            return updateCondition(vmDef, "VmopAgentConnected",
                 true, "VmopAgentStarted", "The VM operator agent is running");
-            return status;
         });
     }
 
diff --git a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/VmDefUpdater.java b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/VmDefUpdater.java
index f04b478..50017c1 100644
--- a/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/VmDefUpdater.java
+++ b/org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu/src/org/jdrupes/vmoperator/runner/qemu/VmDefUpdater.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common.K8sClient;
+import org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common.K8sGenericStub;
 import org.jdrupes.vmoperator.common.VmDefinition;
 import org.jdrupes.vmoperator.runner.qemu.events.Exit;
 import org.jgrapes.core.Channel;
@@ -109,17 +110,21 @@ public class VmDefUpdater extends Component {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Update condition.
+     * Update condition. The `from` VM definition is used to determine the
+     * observed generation and the current status. This method is intended
+     * to be called in the function passed to
+     * {@link K8sGenericStub#updateStatus}.
      *
      * @param from the VM definition
-     * @param status the current status
      * @param type the condition type
      * @param state the new state
      * @param reason the reason for the change
      * @param message the message
+     * @return the updated status
      */
-    protected void updateCondition(VmDefinition from, JsonObject status,
-            String type, boolean state, String reason, String message) {
+    protected JsonObject updateCondition(VmDefinition from, String type,
+            boolean state, String reason, String message) {
+        JsonObject status = from.statusJson();
         // Optimize, as we can get this several times
         var current = status.getAsJsonArray("conditions").asList().stream()
             .map(cond -> (JsonObject) cond)
@@ -127,7 +132,7 @@ public class VmDefUpdater extends Component {
             .findFirst()
             .map(cond -> "True".equals(cond.get("status").getAsString()));
         if (current.isPresent() && current.get() == state) {
-            return;
+            return status;
         }
 
         // Do update
@@ -150,5 +155,6 @@ public class VmDefUpdater extends Component {
         newConds.addAll(toReplace);
         status.add("conditions",
             apiClient.getJSON().getGson().toJsonTree(newConds));
+        return status;
     }
 }