diff --git a/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments.go b/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments.go
index ef250fc0980..79c5c7e508f 100644
--- a/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments.go
+++ b/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 
 	"github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/services/compute/mgmt/2021-04-01/compute"
+	"github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest/to"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-azure/azure"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-azure/azure/services/async"
@@ -73,6 +74,12 @@ func (s *Service) Reconcile(ctx context.Context) error {
 	defer cancel()
 	log.V(2).Info("reconciling role assignment")
 
+	// Return early if there is no roleassignment spec to reconcile.
+	if len(s.Scope.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr(""))) < 1 {
+		log.V(2).Info("no role assignment spec to reconcile")
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	var principalID *string
 	resourceType := s.Scope.RoleAssignmentResourceType()
 	switch resourceType {
diff --git a/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments_test.go b/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments_test.go
index 92419b068e2..7e72d0a5bae 100644
--- a/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments_test.go
+++ b/azure/services/roleassignments/roleassignments_test.go
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ func TestReconcileRoleAssignmentsVM(t *testing.T) {
 				s.ResourceGroup().Return("my-rg")
 				s.Name().Return(fakeRoleAssignment1.MachineName)
 				s.RoleAssignmentResourceType().Return("VirtualMachine")
-				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(&fakePrincipalID).AnyTimes().Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[:1])
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr("")).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[:1])
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(&fakePrincipalID).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[:1])
 				m.Get(gomockinternal.AContext(), &fakeVMSpec).Return(compute.VirtualMachine{
 					Identity: &compute.VirtualMachineIdentity{
 						PrincipalID: &fakePrincipalID,
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ func TestReconcileRoleAssignmentsVM(t *testing.T) {
 				s.ResourceGroup().Return("my-rg")
 				s.Name().Return(fakeRoleAssignment1.MachineName)
 				s.RoleAssignmentResourceType().Return("VirtualMachine")
-				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(&fakePrincipalID).AnyTimes().Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[:1])
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr("")).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[:1])
 				m.Get(gomockinternal.AContext(), &fakeVMSpec).Return(compute.VirtualMachine{}, autorest.NewErrorWithResponse("", "", &http.Response{StatusCode: 500}, "Internal Server Error"))
 			},
 		},
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ func TestReconcileRoleAssignmentsVM(t *testing.T) {
 				s.ResourceGroup().Return("my-rg")
 				s.Name().Return(fakeRoleAssignment1.MachineName)
 				s.RoleAssignmentResourceType().Return("VirtualMachine")
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr("")).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[0:1])
 				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(&fakePrincipalID).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[0:1])
 				m.Get(gomockinternal.AContext(), &fakeVMSpec).Return(compute.VirtualMachine{
 					Identity: &compute.VirtualMachineIdentity{
@@ -160,6 +162,7 @@ func TestReconcileRoleAssignmentsVMSS(t *testing.T) {
 			expect: func(s *mock_roleassignments.MockRoleAssignmentScopeMockRecorder,
 				r *mock_async.MockReconcilerMockRecorder,
 				mvmss *mock_scalesets.MockClientMockRecorder) {
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr("")).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[1:2])
 				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(&fakePrincipalID).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[1:2])
 				s.RoleAssignmentResourceType().Return(azure.VirtualMachineScaleSet)
 				s.ResourceGroup().Return("my-rg")
@@ -181,6 +184,7 @@ func TestReconcileRoleAssignmentsVMSS(t *testing.T) {
 				s.RoleAssignmentResourceType().Return(azure.VirtualMachineScaleSet)
 				s.ResourceGroup().Return("my-rg")
 				s.Name().Return("test-vmss")
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr("")).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[1:2])
 				mvmss.Get(gomockinternal.AContext(), "my-rg", "test-vmss").Return(compute.VirtualMachineScaleSet{},
 					autorest.NewErrorWithResponse("", "", &http.Response{StatusCode: 500}, "Internal Server Error"))
 			},
@@ -191,6 +195,7 @@ func TestReconcileRoleAssignmentsVMSS(t *testing.T) {
 			expect: func(s *mock_roleassignments.MockRoleAssignmentScopeMockRecorder,
 				r *mock_async.MockReconcilerMockRecorder,
 				mvmss *mock_scalesets.MockClientMockRecorder) {
+				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(to.StringPtr("")).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[1:2])
 				s.RoleAssignmentSpecs(&fakePrincipalID).Return(fakeRoleAssignmentSpecs[1:2])
 				s.RoleAssignmentResourceType().Return(azure.VirtualMachineScaleSet)
 				s.ResourceGroup().Return("my-rg")