diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/kubernetes/node_provider.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/kubernetes/node_provider.py
index aac45c904..997a28718 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/kubernetes/node_provider.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/kubernetes/node_provider.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import logging
+import time
 from uuid import uuid4
 from kubernetes.client.rest import ApiException
 
@@ -11,6 +12,9 @@ from ray.autoscaler.tags import TAG_RAY_CLUSTER_NAME
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+MAX_TAG_RETRIES = 3
+DELAY_BEFORE_TAG_RETRY = .5
+
 
 def to_label_selector(tags):
     label_selector = ""
@@ -71,7 +75,23 @@ class KubernetesNodeProvider(NodeProvider):
             raise ValueError("Must use internal IPs with Kubernetes.")
         return super().get_node_id(ip_address, use_internal_ip=use_internal_ip)
 
-    def set_node_tags(self, node_id, tags):
+    def set_node_tags(self, node_ids, tags):
+        for _ in range(MAX_TAG_RETRIES - 1):
+            try:
+                self._set_node_tags(node_ids, tags)
+                return
+            except ApiException as e:
+                if e.status == 409:
+                    logger.info(log_prefix + "Caught a 409 error while setting"
+                                " node tags. Retrying...")
+                    time.sleep(DELAY_BEFORE_TAG_RETRY)
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    raise
+        # One more try
+        self._set_node_tags(node_ids, tags)
+
+    def _set_node_tags(self, node_id, tags):
         pod = core_api().read_namespaced_pod(node_id, self.namespace)
         pod.metadata.labels.update(tags)
         core_api().patch_namespaced_pod(node_id, self.namespace, pod)
diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/updater.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/updater.py
index 98877f913..04989bb85 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/updater.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/updater.py
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ class NodeUpdater:
             process_runner, use_internal_ip, docker_config)
 
         self.daemon = True
-        self.process_runner = process_runner
         self.node_id = node_id
         self.provider = provider
         # Some node providers don't specify empty structures as
diff --git a/python/ray/node.py b/python/ray/node.py
index cf0d89195..d645b70cd 100644
--- a/python/ray/node.py
+++ b/python/ray/node.py
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ class Node:
         ray.utils.set_sigterm_handler(sigterm_handler)
 
     def _init_temp(self, redis_client):
-        # Create an dictionary to store temp file index.
+        # Create a dictionary to store temp file index.
         self._incremental_dict = collections.defaultdict(lambda: 0)
 
         if self.head: