diff --git a/azurelinuxagent/ga/agent_update_handler.py b/azurelinuxagent/ga/agent_update_handler.py
index 013585b3e1..f0b4e25d83 100644
--- a/azurelinuxagent/ga/agent_update_handler.py
+++ b/azurelinuxagent/ga/agent_update_handler.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def __init__(self, protocol):
         self._is_requested_version_update = True  # This is to track the current update type(requested version or self update)
         self.update_state = AgentUpdateHandlerUpdateState()
 
-    def __should_update_agent(self, requested_version):
+    def __check_if_agent_update_allowed_and_update_next_upgrade_times(self, requested_version):
         """
         requested version update:
             update is allowed once per (as specified in the conf.get_autoupdate_frequency())
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ def __should_update_agent(self, requested_version):
             if next_attempt_time > now:
                 return False
             # The time limit elapsed for us to allow updates.
+            self.update_state.last_attempted_requested_version_update_time = now
             return True
         else:
             next_hotfix_time, next_normal_time = self.__get_next_upgrade_times(now)
@@ -77,17 +78,12 @@ def __should_update_agent(self, requested_version):
 
             if (upgrade_type == AgentUpgradeType.Hotfix and next_hotfix_time <= now) or (
                     upgrade_type == AgentUpgradeType.Normal and next_normal_time <= now):
+                # Update the last upgrade check time even if no new agent is available for upgrade
+                self.update_state.last_attempted_hotfix_update_time = now
+                self.update_state.last_attempted_normal_update_time = now
                 return True
             return False
 
-    def __update_last_attempt_update_times(self):
-        now = datetime.datetime.now()
-        if self._is_requested_version_update:
-            self.update_state.last_attempted_requested_version_update_time = now
-        else:
-            self.update_state.last_attempted_normal_update_time = now
-            self.update_state.last_attempted_hotfix_update_time = now
-
     def __should_agent_attempt_manifest_download(self):
         """
         The agent should attempt to download the manifest if
@@ -309,6 +305,7 @@ def run(self, goal_state):
                 if not self.__should_agent_attempt_manifest_download():
                     return
                 if conf.get_enable_ga_versioning():  # log the warning only when ga versioning is enabled
+                    # TODO: Need to revisit this msg when version is missing in Goal state. We may need to handle better way to report the error
                     warn_msg = "Missing requested version in agent family: {0} for incarnation: {1}, fallback to largest version update".format(self._ga_family, self._gs_id)
                     GAUpdateReportState.report_error_msg = warn_msg
                 agent_manifest = goal_state.fetch_agent_manifest(agent_family.name, agent_family.uris)
@@ -322,49 +319,46 @@ def run(self, goal_state):
                 if "Missing requested version" in GAUpdateReportState.report_error_msg:
                     GAUpdateReportState.report_error_msg = ""
 
-            if requested_version == CURRENT_VERSION:
+            # Check if an update is allowed and update next upgrade times even if no new agent is available for upgrade
+            if not self.__check_if_agent_update_allowed_and_update_next_upgrade_times(requested_version):
                 return
 
-            # Check if an update is allowed
-            if not self.__should_update_agent(requested_version):
+            if requested_version == CURRENT_VERSION:
                 return
 
             if warn_msg != "":
                 self.__log_event(LogLevel.WARNING, warn_msg)
 
-            try:
-                # Downgrades are not allowed for self-update version
-                # Added it in try block after agent update timewindow check so that we don't log it too frequently
-                if not self.__check_if_downgrade_is_requested_and_allowed(requested_version):
-                    return
-
-                daemon_version = self.__get_daemon_version_for_update()
-                if requested_version < daemon_version:
-                    # Don't process the update if the requested version is less than daemon version,
-                    # as historically we don't support downgrades below daemon versions. So daemon will not pickup that requested version rather start with
-                    # installed latest version again. When that happens agent go into loop of downloading the requested version, exiting and start again with same version.
-                    #
-                    raise AgentUpdateError("The Agent received a request to downgrade to version {0}, but downgrading to a version less than "
-                                           "the Agent installed on the image ({1}) is not supported. Skipping downgrade.".format(requested_version, daemon_version))
-
-                msg = "Goal state {0} is requesting a new agent version {1}, will update the agent before processing the goal state.".format(
-                    self._gs_id, str(requested_version))
-                self.__log_event(LogLevel.INFO, msg)
-
-                agent = self.__download_and_get_agent(goal_state, agent_family, agent_manifest, requested_version)
+            # Downgrades are not allowed for self-update version
+            if not self.__check_if_downgrade_is_requested_and_allowed(requested_version):
+                return
 
-                if agent.is_blacklisted or not agent.is_downloaded:
-                    msg = "Downloaded agent version is in bad state : {0} , skipping agent update".format(
-                        str(agent.version))
-                    self.__log_event(LogLevel.WARNING, msg)
-                    return
+            daemon_version = self.__get_daemon_version_for_update()
+            if requested_version < daemon_version:
+                # Don't process the update if the requested version is less than daemon version,
+                # as historically we don't support downgrades below daemon versions. So daemon will not pickup that requested version rather start with
+                # installed latest version again. When that happens agent go into loop of downloading the requested version, exiting and start again with same version.
+                #
+                raise AgentUpdateError("The Agent received a request to downgrade to version {0}, but downgrading to a version less than "
+                                       "the Agent installed on the image ({1}) is not supported. Skipping downgrade.".format(requested_version, daemon_version))
+
+            # Todo: Need to update the message when we fix RSM stuff
+            msg = "Self-update discovered new agent version:{0} in agent manifest for goal state {1}, will update the agent before processing the goal state.".format(
+                str(requested_version), self._gs_id)
+            self.__log_event(LogLevel.INFO, msg)
+
+            agent = self.__download_and_get_agent(goal_state, agent_family, agent_manifest, requested_version)
+
+            if agent.is_blacklisted or not agent.is_downloaded:
+                msg = "Downloaded agent version is in bad state : {0} , skipping agent update".format(
+                    str(agent.version))
+                self.__log_event(LogLevel.WARNING, msg)
+                return
 
-                # We delete the directory and the zip package from the filesystem except current version and target version
-                self.__purge_extra_agents_from_disk(CURRENT_VERSION, known_agents=[agent])
-                self.__proceed_with_update(requested_version)
+            # We delete the directory and the zip package from the filesystem except current version and target version
+            self.__purge_extra_agents_from_disk(CURRENT_VERSION, known_agents=[agent])
+            self.__proceed_with_update(requested_version)
 
-            finally:
-                self.__update_last_attempt_update_times()
 
         except Exception as err:
             if isinstance(err, AgentUpgradeExitException):
diff --git a/tests/ga/test_agent_update_handler.py b/tests/ga/test_agent_update_handler.py
index d387164147..d91cbb8019 100644
--- a/tests/ga/test_agent_update_handler.py
+++ b/tests/ga/test_agent_update_handler.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def __assert_agent_directories_exist_and_others_dont_exist(self, versions):
 
     def __assert_agent_requested_version_in_goal_state(self, mock_telemetry, inc=1, version="9.9.9.10"):
         upgrade_event_msgs = [kwarg['message'] for _, kwarg in mock_telemetry.call_args_list if
-                              'Goal state incarnation_{0} is requesting a new agent version {1}'.format(inc, version) in kwarg['message'] and kwarg[
+                              'discovered new agent version:{0} in agent manifest for goal state incarnation_{1}'.format(version, inc) in kwarg['message'] and kwarg[
                                   'op'] == WALAEventOperation.AgentUpgrade]
         self.assertEqual(1, len(upgrade_event_msgs),
                          "Did not find the event indicating that the agent requested version found. Got: {0}".format(
diff --git a/tests/ga/test_update.py b/tests/ga/test_update.py
index 990976f586..ceb3148a3a 100644
--- a/tests/ga/test_update.py
+++ b/tests/ga/test_update.py
@@ -1593,7 +1593,7 @@ def test_it_should_not_update_if_requested_version_not_found_in_manifest(self):
                       kwarg['op'] in (WALAEventOperation.AgentUpgrade, WALAEventOperation.Download)]
         # This will throw if corresponding message not found so not asserting on that
         requested_version_found = next(kwarg for kwarg in agent_msgs if
-                                       "Goal state incarnation_1 is requesting a new agent version 5.2.1.0, will update the agent before processing the goal state" in kwarg['message'])
+                                       "discovered new agent version:5.2.1.0 in agent manifest for goal state incarnation_1, will update the agent before processing the goal state" in kwarg['message'])
         self.assertTrue(requested_version_found['is_success'],
                         "The requested version found op should be reported as a success")