diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a46f3fa5fa..d2221a095d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@ Adding a new version? You'll need three changes:
   [#5220](https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller/pull/5220)
 - Added support for GRPC over HTTP (without TLS) in Gateway API.
   [#5128](https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller/pull/5128)
+- Added `-init-cache-sync-duration` CLI flag. This flag configures how long the controller waits for Kubernetes resources to populate at startup before generating the initial Kong configuration. It also fixes a bug that removed the default 5 second wait period.
+  [#5238](https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller/pull/5238)
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/docs/cli-arguments.md b/docs/cli-arguments.md
index 2afbe910ef..e12e4ad819 100644
--- a/docs/cli-arguments.md
+++ b/docs/cli-arguments.md
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 | `--gateway-discovery-dns-strategy` | `dns-strategy` | DNS strategy to use when creating Gateway's Admin API addresses. One of: ip, service, pod. | `"ip"` |
 | `--health-probe-bind-address` | `string` | The address the probe endpoint binds to. | `:10254` |
 | `--ingress-class` | `string` | Name of the ingress class to route through this controller. | `kong` |
+| `--init-cache-sync-duration` | `duration` | The initial delay to wait for Kubernetes object caches to be synced before the initial configuration. | `5s` |
 | `--kong-admin-ca-cert` | `string` | PEM-encoded CA certificate to verify Kong's Admin TLS certificate. Mutually exclusive with --kong-admin-ca-cert-file. |  |
 | `--kong-admin-ca-cert-file` | `string` | Path to PEM-encoded CA certificate file to verify Kong's Admin TLS certificate. Mutually exclusive with --kong-admin-ca-cert. |  |
 | `--kong-admin-concurrency` | `int` | Max number of concurrent requests sent to Kong's Admin API. | `10` |
diff --git a/internal/manager/config.go b/internal/manager/config.go
index 44addb9a91..58936449ca 100644
--- a/internal/manager/config.go
+++ b/internal/manager/config.go
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ func (c *Config) FlagSet() *pflag.FlagSet {
 	flagSet.StringVar(&c.ProbeAddr, "health-probe-bind-address", fmt.Sprintf(":%v", HealthzPort), "The address the probe endpoint binds to.")
 	flagSet.Float32Var(&c.ProxySyncSeconds, "proxy-sync-seconds", dataplane.DefaultSyncSeconds,
 		"Define the rate (in seconds) in which configuration updates will be applied to the Kong Admin API.")
+	flagSet.DurationVar(&c.InitCacheSyncDuration, "init-cache-sync-duration", dataplane.DefaultCacheSyncWaitDuration, `The initial delay to wait for Kubernetes object caches to be synced before the initial configuration.`)
 	flagSet.Float32Var(&c.ProxyTimeoutSeconds, "proxy-timeout-seconds", dataplane.DefaultTimeoutSeconds,
 		"Sets the timeout (in seconds) for all requests to Kong's Admin API.")