diff --git a/controllers/cloud_profile.go b/controllers/cloud_profile.go
index 30be5b4..9027663 100644
--- a/controllers/cloud_profile.go
+++ b/controllers/cloud_profile.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package controllers
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
@@ -37,7 +38,9 @@ func (r *Reconciler) reconcileCloudProfile(ctx context.Context, log logr.Logger,
 	var cloudProfile gardenerv1beta1.CloudProfile
 	cloudProfile.Name = mcp.Name
 
-	_, err := controllerutil.CreateOrPatch(ctx, r.Client, &cloudProfile, func() error {
+	var specBefore gardenerv1beta1.CloudProfileSpec
+	op, err := controllerutil.CreateOrPatch(ctx, r.Client, &cloudProfile, func() error {
+		specBefore = *cloudProfile.Spec.DeepCopy()
 		if err := controllerutil.SetControllerReference(mcp, &cloudProfile, r.Scheme()); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -60,6 +63,18 @@ func (r *Reconciler) reconcileCloudProfile(ctx context.Context, log logr.Logger,
 		gardenerv1beta1.SetObjectDefaults_CloudProfile(&cloudProfile)
 		return errors.Join(errs...)
 	})
+	log.Info("CloudProfile patch operation", "operation", op)
+	if op == controllerutil.OperationResultUpdated && log.V(1).Enabled() {
+		beforeJSON, err := json.Marshal(specBefore)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Error(err, "failed to marshal spec before")
+		}
+		afterJSON, err := json.Marshal(cloudProfile.Spec)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Error(err, "failed to marshal spec after")
+		}
+		log.V(1).Info("CloudProfile spec diff", "before", string(beforeJSON), "after", string(afterJSON))
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		statusErr := r.patchStatusAndCondition(ctx, mcp, v1alpha1.FailedReconcileStatus, metav1.Condition{
 			Type:               CloudProfileAppliedConditionType,
@@ -72,6 +87,7 @@ func (r *Reconciler) reconcileCloudProfile(ctx context.Context, log logr.Logger,
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to patch ManagedCloudProfile status: %w", statusErr)
 		}
 		if apierrors.IsInvalid(err) {
+			log.Error(err, "CloudProfile is invalid, skipping retry")
 			return nil
 		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create or patch CloudProfile: %w", err)
diff --git a/controllers/managedcloudprofile_controller.go b/controllers/managedcloudprofile_controller.go
index 0963cb7..201083e 100644
--- a/controllers/managedcloudprofile_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/managedcloudprofile_controller.go
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ func (r *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Resu
 		return ctrl.Result{}, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
 	}
 
+	log.V(1).Info("reconcile triggered", "generation", mcp.Generation, "resourceVersion", mcp.ResourceVersion)
+
 	if err := r.reconcileCloudProfile(ctx, log, &mcp); err != nil {
 		return ctrl.Result{}, err
 	}
@@ -61,14 +63,17 @@ func (r *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Resu
 }
 
 func (r *Reconciler) patchStatusAndCondition(ctx context.Context, mcp *v1alpha1.ManagedCloudProfile, status v1alpha1.ReconcileStatus, cond metav1.Condition) error {
+	log := ctrl.LoggerFrom(ctx)
 	original := mcp.DeepCopy()
 	mcp.Status.Status = status
 	if cond.Type != "" {
 		mcp.Status.Conditions = applyCondition(mcp.Status.Conditions, cond)
 	}
 	if equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(original.Status, mcp.Status) {
+		log.V(1).Info("MCP status patch skipped, no change")
 		return nil
 	}
+	log.V(1).Info("MCP status patch issued", "status", status, "condition", cond.Type)
 	return r.Status().Patch(ctx, mcp, client.MergeFrom(original))
 }