diff --git a/pkg/machine/gvproxy.go b/pkg/machine/gvproxy.go
index 97eef42ac0..5f75c11557 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/gvproxy.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/gvproxy.go
@@ -5,13 +5,37 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
 	"strconv"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v6/pkg/machine/define"
 )
 
+const (
+	pidFileWaitTimeout   = 2 * time.Second
+	pidFileCheckInterval = 50 * time.Millisecond
+)
+
+func readPIDFileWithRetry(f define.VMFile) ([]byte, error) {
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(pidFileWaitTimeout)
+
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		gvPid, err := f.Read()
+		if err == nil {
+			return gvPid, nil
+		}
+		if !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		time.Sleep(pidFileCheckInterval)
+	}
+
+	// Final attempt after timeout
+	return f.Read()
+}
+
 // CleanupGVProxy reads the --pid-file for gvproxy attempts to stop it
 func CleanupGVProxy(f define.VMFile) error {
-	gvPid, err := f.Read()
+	gvPid, err := readPIDFileWithRetry(f)
 	if err != nil {
 		// The file will also be removed by gvproxy when it exits so
 		// we need to account for the race and can just ignore it here.