diff --git a/integration-tests/kyuubi-kubernetes-it/src/test/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/kubernetes/test/spark/SparkOnKubernetesTestsSuite.scala b/integration-tests/kyuubi-kubernetes-it/src/test/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/kubernetes/test/spark/SparkOnKubernetesTestsSuite.scala
index 562ee63799a..5518246f62c 100644
--- a/integration-tests/kyuubi-kubernetes-it/src/test/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/kubernetes/test/spark/SparkOnKubernetesTestsSuite.scala
+++ b/integration-tests/kyuubi-kubernetes-it/src/test/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/kubernetes/test/spark/SparkOnKubernetesTestsSuite.scala
@@ -254,4 +254,56 @@ class KyuubiOperationKubernetesClusterClusterModeSuite
       sessionHandle.identifier.toString)
     assert(!failKillResponse._1)
   }
+  test(
+    "If spark batch reach timeout, it should have associated Kyuubi Application Operation be " +
+      "in TIMEOUT state with Spark Driver Engine be in NOT_FOUND state!") {
+    import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
+    // Configure a very small submit timeout to trigger the timeout => 1000ms!
+    val originalTimeout = conf.get(ENGINE_KUBERNETES_SUBMIT_TIMEOUT)
+    conf.set(ENGINE_KUBERNETES_SUBMIT_TIMEOUT, 1000L)
+
+    try {
+      // Prepare a metadata row only (INITIALIZED), without actually launching a Spark driver
+      val batchId = UUID.randomUUID().toString
+      val batchRequest = newSparkBatchRequest(conf.getAll ++ Map(
+        KYUUBI_BATCH_ID_KEY -> batchId))
+
+      val user = "test-user"
+      val ipAddress = "test-ip"
+
+      // Insert the metadata so that subsequent update can find this record
+      sessionManager.initializeBatchState(
+        user,
+        ipAddress,
+        batchRequest.getConf.asScala.toMap,
+        batchRequest)
+
+      // Create a fresh KubernetesApplicationOperation that can trigger update
+      // to metadata upon timeout!
+      val operation = new KubernetesApplicationOperation
+      operation.initialize(conf, sessionManager.metadataManager)
+
+      // Use a submitTime far enough in the past to exceed the timeout
+      val submitTime = Some(System.currentTimeMillis() - 10000L)
+
+      // No driver pod exists for this random batch id, so this should hit the timeout path
+      operation.getApplicationInfoByTag(
+        appMgrInfo,
+        batchId,
+        Some(user),
+        submitTime)
+
+      eventually(timeout(30.seconds), interval(200.milliseconds)) {
+        val mdOpt = sessionManager.getBatchMetadata(batchId)
+        assert(mdOpt.isDefined)
+        val md = mdOpt.get
+        // Verify metadata reflects TIMEOUT and NOT_FOUND as set by the timeout handling
+        assert(md.state == org.apache.kyuubi.operation.OperationState.TIMEOUT.toString)
+        assert(md.engineState == NOT_FOUND.toString)
+      }
+    } finally {
+      // restore back original engine submit time out for kyuubi batch job submission!
+      conf.set(ENGINE_KUBERNETES_SUBMIT_TIMEOUT, originalTimeout)
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/kyuubi-server/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/KubernetesApplicationOperation.scala b/kyuubi-server/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/KubernetesApplicationOperation.scala
index 703d223d5bc..b5a40d6b53d 100644
--- a/kyuubi-server/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/KubernetesApplicationOperation.scala
+++ b/kyuubi-server/src/main/scala/org/apache/kyuubi/engine/KubernetesApplicationOperation.scala
@@ -322,7 +322,30 @@ class KubernetesApplicationOperation extends ApplicationOperation with Logging {
           if (elapsedTime > submitTimeout) {
             error(s"Can't find target driver pod by ${toLabel(tag)}, " +
               s"elapsed time: ${elapsedTime}ms exceeds ${submitTimeout}ms.")
-            ApplicationInfo.NOT_FOUND
+            val errorMsg =
+              s"Driver pod not found for job with kyuubi-unique-tag: $tag after $elapsedTime ms " +
+                s"(submit-timeout: $submitTimeout ms)"
+            /* Update the metadata store to mark this
+            operation as timed out and the Spark driver
+            engine as not found.
+            This prevents the restarted Kyuubi server
+            from repeatedly polling for this
+            batch job's status.
+             */
+            try {
+              metadataManager.foreach(_.updateMetadata(
+                org.apache.kyuubi.server.metadata.api.Metadata(
+                  identifier = tag,
+                  state = org.apache.kyuubi.operation.OperationState.TIMEOUT.toString,
+                  engineState = ApplicationState.NOT_FOUND.toString,
+                  engineError = Some(errorMsg),
+                  endTime = System.currentTimeMillis())))
+            } catch {
+              case NonFatal(e) =>
+                warn(s"Failed to update metadata for spark job with kyuubi-unique-tag label:"
+                  + s"$tag after submit timeout reached: ${e.getMessage}")
+            }
+            appInfo
           } else {
             warn(s"Waiting for driver pod with ${toLabel(tag)} to be created, " +
               s"elapsed time: ${elapsedTime}ms, return UNKNOWN status")