diff --git a/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchService.groovy b/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchService.groovy
index 7ab4ba539d..f023fab4b5 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchService.groovy
+++ b/plugins/nf-azure/src/main/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchService.groovy
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 package nextflow.cloud.azure.batch
 
 import java.math.RoundingMode
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
 import java.nio.file.Path
 import java.time.Duration
 import java.time.Instant
@@ -93,6 +95,8 @@ import nextflow.util.CacheHelper
 import nextflow.util.MemoryUnit
 import nextflow.util.MustacheTemplateEngine
 import nextflow.util.Rnd
+import reactor.core.publisher.Flux
+
 /**
  * Implements Azure Batch operations for Nextflow executor
  *
@@ -696,7 +700,7 @@ class AzBatchService implements Closeable {
         def pool = getPool(spec.poolId)
         if( !pool ) {
             if( config.batch().canCreatePool() ) {
-                createPool(spec)
+                safeCreatePool(spec)
             }
             else {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Can't find Azure Batch pool '$spec.poolId' - Make sure it exists or set `allowPoolCreation=true` in the nextflow config file")
@@ -856,6 +860,27 @@ class AzBatchService implements Closeable {
         apply(() -> client.createPool(poolParams))
     }
 
+    protected void safeCreatePool(AzVmPoolSpec spec) {
+        try {
+            createPool(spec)
+        }
+        catch (HttpResponseException e) {
+            if (e.response.statusCode == 409 && toString(e.response.body)?.contains("PoolExists")) {
+                log.debug "[AZURE BATCH] Pool '${spec.poolId}' already exists (ignoring creation request)"
+                return
+            }
+            throw e
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected String toString(Flux<ByteBuffer> body) {
+        body
+            .map(byteBuffer -> StandardCharsets.UTF_8.decode(byteBuffer).toString())
+            .collectList()  // Collects all strings into a List<String>
+            .map(list -> String.join("", list)) // Joins the list into a single string
+            .block()
+    }
+
     protected String scaleFormula(AzPoolOpts opts) {
         final target = opts.lowPriority ? 'TargetLowPriorityNodes' : 'TargetDedicatedNodes'
         // https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/batch/batch-automatic-scaling
diff --git a/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchServiceTest.groovy b/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchServiceTest.groovy
index 7923da46fc..d4a00bba5e 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchServiceTest.groovy
+++ b/plugins/nf-azure/src/test/nextflow/cloud/azure/batch/AzBatchServiceTest.groovy
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 package nextflow.cloud.azure.batch
 
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
 import java.time.Instant
 import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit
 import java.util.function.Predicate
 
 import com.azure.compute.batch.models.BatchPool
 import com.azure.compute.batch.models.ElevationLevel
+import com.azure.core.exception.HttpResponseException
+import com.azure.core.http.HttpResponse
 import com.azure.identity.ManagedIdentityCredential
 import com.google.common.hash.HashCode
 import nextflow.Global
@@ -22,6 +26,7 @@ import nextflow.processor.TaskProcessor
 import nextflow.processor.TaskRun
 import nextflow.util.Duration
 import nextflow.util.MemoryUnit
+import reactor.core.publisher.Flux
 import spock.lang.Specification
 import spock.lang.Unroll
 /**
@@ -786,6 +791,7 @@ class AzBatchServiceTest extends Specification {
         [managedIdentity: [clientId: 'client-123']]     | 'client-123'
     }
 
+
     def 'should cache job id' () {
         given:
         def exec = Mock(AzBatchExecutor)
@@ -836,4 +842,59 @@ class AzBatchServiceTest extends Specification {
         and:
         result == 'job3'
     }
+
+    def 'should test safeCreatePool' () {
+        given:
+        def exec = Mock(AzBatchExecutor)
+        def service = Spy(new AzBatchService(exec))
+        def spec = Mock(AzVmPoolSpec) {
+            getPoolId() >> 'test-pool'
+        }
+
+        when: 'pool is created successfully'
+        service.safeCreatePool(spec)
+        
+        then: 'createPool is called once'
+        1 * service.createPool(spec) >> null
+        and:
+        noExceptionThrown()
+
+        when: 'pool already exists (409 with PoolExists)'
+        service.safeCreatePool(spec)
+        
+        then: 'exception is caught and debug message is logged'
+        1 * service.createPool(spec) >> {
+            def response = Mock(HttpResponse) {
+                getStatusCode() >> 409
+                getBody() >> {
+                    Flux.just(ByteBuffer.wrap('{"error":{"code":"PoolExists"}}'.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)))
+                }
+            }
+            throw new HttpResponseException("Pool already exists", response)
+        }
+        and:
+        noExceptionThrown()
+
+        when: 'different HttpResponseException occurs'
+        service.safeCreatePool(spec)
+        
+        then: 'exception is rethrown'
+        1 * service.createPool(spec) >> {
+            def response = Mock(HttpResponse) {
+                getStatusCode() >> 400
+                getBody() >> {
+                    Flux.just(ByteBuffer.wrap('{"error":{"code":"BadRequest"}}'.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)))
+                }
+            }
+            throw new HttpResponseException("Bad request", response)
+        }
+        thrown(HttpResponseException)
+
+        when: 'a different exception occurs'
+        service.safeCreatePool(spec)
+        
+        then: 'exception is not caught'
+        1 * service.createPool(spec) >> { throw new IllegalArgumentException("Some other error") }
+        thrown(IllegalArgumentException)
+    }
 }