diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/MissingCRDException.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/MissingCRDException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..caf310fb22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/MissingCRDException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator;
+
+public class MissingCRDException extends OperatorException {
+  private final String crdName;
+  private final String specVersion;
+
+  public String getCrdName() {
+    return crdName;
+  }
+
+  public String getSpecVersion() {
+    return specVersion;
+  }
+
+  public MissingCRDException(String crdName, String specVersion) {
+    super();
+    this.crdName = crdName;
+    this.specVersion = specVersion;
+  }
+
+  public MissingCRDException(String crdName, String specVersion, String message) {
+    super(message);
+    this.crdName = crdName;
+    this.specVersion = specVersion;
+  }
+
+  public MissingCRDException(String crdName, String specVersion, String message, Throwable cause) {
+    super(message, cause);
+    this.crdName = crdName;
+    this.specVersion = specVersion;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
index 9bcd72673d..56e11af4da 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
@@ -114,17 +114,22 @@ public <R extends CustomResource> void register(
       final String controllerName = configuration.getName();
 
       // check that the custom resource is known by the cluster if configured that way
-      final CustomResourceDefinition crd;
+      final CustomResourceDefinition crd; // todo: check proper CRD spec version based on config
       if (configurationService.checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel()) {
         final var crdName = configuration.getCRDName();
+        final var specVersion = "v1";
         crd = k8sClient.apiextensions().v1().customResourceDefinitions().withName(crdName).get();
         if (crd == null) {
-          throw new OperatorException(
+          throw new MissingCRDException(
+              crdName,
+              specVersion,
               "'"
                   + crdName
-                  + "' CRD was not found on the cluster, controller "
+                  + "' "
+                  + specVersion
+                  + " CRD was not found on the cluster, controller '"
                   + controllerName
-                  + " cannot be registered");
+                  + "' cannot be registered");
         }
 
         // Apply validations that are not handled by fabric8
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/DefaultEventSourceManager.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/DefaultEventSourceManager.java
index a3ea01461b..7d3b733338 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/DefaultEventSourceManager.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/DefaultEventSourceManager.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.MixedOperation;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.Resource;
+import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.OperatorException;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.ResourceController;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ControllerConfiguration;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.CustomResourceCache;
@@ -69,7 +70,8 @@ public void close() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public final void registerEventSource(String name, EventSource eventSource) {
+  public final void registerEventSource(String name, EventSource eventSource)
+      throws OperatorException {
     Objects.requireNonNull(eventSource, "EventSource must not be null");
 
     try {
@@ -81,6 +83,12 @@ public final void registerEventSource(String name, EventSource eventSource) {
       eventSources.put(name, eventSource);
       eventSource.setEventHandler(defaultEventHandler);
       eventSource.start();
+    } catch (Throwable e) {
+      if (e instanceof IllegalStateException) {
+        // leave untouched
+        throw e;
+      }
+      throw new OperatorException("Couldn't register event source named '" + name + "'", e);
     } finally {
       lock.unlock();
     }
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/EventSourceManager.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/EventSourceManager.java
index 0aadc5247a..9879b51013 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/EventSourceManager.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/event/EventSourceManager.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.event;
 
+import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.OperatorException;
 import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
@@ -13,8 +14,10 @@ public interface EventSourceManager extends Closeable {
    * @param eventSource the {@link EventSource} to register
    * @throws IllegalStateException if an {@link EventSource} with the same name is already
    *     registered.
+   * @throws OperatorException if an error occurred during the registration process
    */
-  void registerEventSource(String name, EventSource eventSource);
+  void registerEventSource(String name, EventSource eventSource)
+      throws IllegalStateException, OperatorException;
 
   /**
    * Remove the {@link EventSource} identified by the given <code>name</code> from the event