diff --git a/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.cpp b/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.cpp
index 36c1624534..eb692d5b3a 100644
--- a/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.cpp
+++ b/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include <thread>
+#include <memory>
 #include "eventd.h"
 #include "dbconnector.h"
 #include "zmq.h"
@@ -539,6 +540,7 @@ int
 capture_service::set_control(capture_control_t ctrl, event_serialized_lst_t *lst)
 {
     int ret = -1;
+    int duration = CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_DURATION;
 
     /* Can go in single step only. */
     RET_ON_ERR((ctrl - m_ctrl) == 1, "m_ctrl(%d)+1 < ctrl(%d)", m_ctrl, ctrl);
@@ -547,8 +549,9 @@ capture_service::set_control(capture_control_t ctrl, event_serialized_lst_t *lst
         case INIT_CAPTURE:
             m_thr = thread(&capture_service::do_capture, this);
             for(int i=0; !m_cap_run && (i < CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_RETRIES); ++i) {
-                /* Wait max a second for thread to init */
-                this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_DURATION));
+                /* Poll to see if thread has been init, if so exit early. Add delay on every attempt */
+                this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(duration));
+                duration = min(duration + CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_INCREMENT, CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_MAX_DURATION);
             }
             RET_ON_ERR(m_cap_run, "Failed to init capture");
             m_ctrl = ctrl;
@@ -646,7 +649,8 @@ run_eventd_service()
     event_service service;
     stats_collector stats_instance;
     eventd_proxy *proxy = NULL;
-    capture_service *capture = NULL;
+    unique_ptr<capture_service> capture;
+    bool skip_caching = false;
 
     event_serialized_lst_t capture_fifo_events;
     last_events_t capture_last_events;
@@ -676,9 +680,14 @@ run_eventd_service()
      * events until telemetry starts.
      * Telemetry will send a stop & collect cache upon startup
      */
-    capture = new capture_service(zctx, cache_max, &stats_instance);
-    RET_ON_ERR(capture->set_control(INIT_CAPTURE) == 0, "Failed to init capture");
-    RET_ON_ERR(capture->set_control(START_CAPTURE) == 0, "Failed to start capture");
+    capture = make_unique<capture_service>(zctx, cache_max, &stats_instance);
+    if (capture->set_control(INIT_CAPTURE) != 0) {
+        SWSS_LOG_WARN("Failed to initialize capture service, so we skip caching");
+        skip_caching = true;
+        capture.reset(); // Capture service will not be available
+    } else {
+        RET_ON_ERR(capture->set_control(START_CAPTURE) == 0, "Failed to start capture");
+    }
 
     this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(200));
     RET_ON_ERR(stats_instance.is_running(), "Failed to start stats instance");
@@ -694,12 +703,12 @@ run_eventd_service()
             case EVENT_CACHE_INIT:
                 /* connect only*/
                 if (capture != NULL) {
-                    delete capture;
+                    capture.reset();
                 }
                 event_serialized_lst_t().swap(capture_fifo_events);
                 last_events_t().swap(capture_last_events);
 
-                capture = new capture_service(zctx, cache_max, &stats_instance);
+                capture = make_unique<capture_service>(zctx, cache_max, &stats_instance);
                 if (capture != NULL) {
                     resp = capture->set_control(INIT_CAPTURE);
                 }
@@ -708,7 +717,7 @@ run_eventd_service()
 
             case EVENT_CACHE_START:
                 if (capture == NULL) {
-                    SWSS_LOG_ERROR("Cache is not initialized to start");
+                    SWSS_LOG_WARN("Cache is not initialized to start");
                     resp = -1;
                     break;
                 }
@@ -721,7 +730,7 @@ run_eventd_service()
 
             case EVENT_CACHE_STOP:
                 if (capture == NULL) {
-                    SWSS_LOG_ERROR("Cache is not initialized to stop");
+                    SWSS_LOG_WARN("Cache is not initialized to stop");
                     resp = -1;
                     break;
                 }
@@ -731,8 +740,7 @@ run_eventd_service()
                     resp = capture->read_cache(capture_fifo_events, capture_last_events,
                             overflow);
                 }
-                delete capture;
-                capture = NULL;
+                capture.reset();
 
                 /* Unpause heartbeat upon stop caching */
                 stats_instance.heartbeat_ctrl();
@@ -740,6 +748,11 @@ run_eventd_service()
 
 
             case EVENT_CACHE_READ:
+                if (skip_caching) {
+                    SWSS_LOG_WARN("Capture service is unavailable, skipping cache read");
+                    resp = -1;
+                    break;
+                }
                 if (capture != NULL) {
                     SWSS_LOG_ERROR("Cache is not stopped yet.");
                     resp = -1;
@@ -802,13 +815,10 @@ out:
     if (proxy != NULL) {
         delete proxy;
     }
-    if (capture != NULL) {
-        delete capture;
-    }
     if (zctx != NULL) {
         zmq_ctx_term(zctx);
     }
-    SWSS_LOG_ERROR("Eventd service exiting\n");
+    SWSS_LOG_INFO("Eventd service exiting\n");
 }
 
 void set_unit_testing(bool b)
diff --git a/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.h b/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.h
index a7a87f9436..960dfb8b8d 100644
--- a/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.h
+++ b/src/sonic-eventd/src/eventd.h
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ typedef enum {
 #define EVENTS_STATS_FIELD_NAME "value"
 #define STATS_HEARTBEAT_MIN 300
 #define CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_DURATION 10
+#define CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_INCREMENT 10
+#define CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_MAX_DURATION 100
 #define CAPTURE_SERVICE_POLLING_RETRIES 100
 
 /*