diff --git a/pkg/eks/create.go b/pkg/eks/create.go
index 3030cdb8..d438b336 100644
--- a/pkg/eks/create.go
+++ b/pkg/eks/create.go
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ func CreateNodeGroup(opts *CreateNodeGroupOptions) (string, string, error) {
 	}
 
 	_, err = opts.EKSService.CreateNodegroup(nodeGroupCreateInput)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err != nil && lt.ID != nil {
 		// If there was an error creating the node group, then the template version should be deleted
 		// to prevent many launch template versions from being created before the issue is fixed.
 		DeleteLaunchTemplateVersions(opts.EC2Service, *lt.ID, []*string{launchTemplateVersion})
diff --git a/pkg/eks/create_test.go b/pkg/eks/create_test.go
index 3a22b418..ec4861c9 100644
--- a/pkg/eks/create_test.go
+++ b/pkg/eks/create_test.go
@@ -1023,6 +1023,58 @@ var _ = Describe("CreateNodeGroup", func() {
 		Expect(launchTemplateVersion).To(Equal("1"))
 		Expect(generatedNodeRole).To(Equal("test"))
 	})
+
+	It("handles no id case gracefully", func() {
+		createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.ImageID = nil
+		ec2ServiceMock.EXPECT().CreateLaunchTemplateVersion(gomock.Any()).Return(&ec2.CreateLaunchTemplateVersionOutput{
+			LaunchTemplateVersion: &ec2.LaunchTemplateVersion{
+				LaunchTemplateName: aws.String("test"),
+				LaunchTemplateId:   nil,
+				VersionNumber:      aws.Int64(1),
+			},
+		}, nil)
+
+		cloudFormationServiceMock.EXPECT().CreateStack(gomock.Any()).Return(nil, nil)
+
+		cloudFormationServiceMock.EXPECT().DescribeStacks(gomock.Any()).Return(
+			&cloudformation.DescribeStacksOutput{
+				Stacks: []*cloudformation.Stack{
+					{
+						StackStatus: aws.String(createCompleteStatus),
+						Outputs: []*cloudformation.Output{
+							{
+								OutputKey:   aws.String("NodeInstanceRole"),
+								OutputValue: aws.String("test"),
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			}, nil)
+
+		eksServiceMock.EXPECT().CreateNodegroup(&eks.CreateNodegroupInput{
+			ClusterName:   aws.String(createNodeGroupOpts.Config.Spec.DisplayName),
+			NodegroupName: createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.NodegroupName,
+			Labels:        createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.Labels,
+			ScalingConfig: &eks.NodegroupScalingConfig{
+				DesiredSize: createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.DesiredSize,
+				MaxSize:     createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.MaxSize,
+				MinSize:     createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.MinSize,
+			},
+			CapacityType: aws.String(eks.CapacityTypesSpot),
+			LaunchTemplate: &eks.LaunchTemplateSpecification{
+				Id:      nil,
+				Version: aws.String("1"),
+			},
+			InstanceTypes: createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.SpotInstanceTypes,
+			Subnets:       aws.StringSlice(createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.Subnets),
+			NodeRole:      aws.String("test"),
+			AmiType:       aws.String(eks.AMITypesAl2X8664),
+		}).Return(nil, errors.New("error"))
+
+		_, _, err := CreateNodeGroup(createNodeGroupOpts)
+		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+	})
+
 	It("set resource tags", func() {
 		createNodeGroupOpts.NodeGroup.ResourceTags = map[string]*string{
 			"tag1": aws.String("val1"),