diff --git a/controllers/operatorpolicy_controller.go b/controllers/operatorpolicy_controller.go
index 121d18a3..60e802ce 100644
--- a/controllers/operatorpolicy_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/operatorpolicy_controller.go
@@ -571,7 +571,8 @@ func (r *OperatorPolicyReconciler) checkSubOverlap(
 }
 
 // applySubscriptionDefaults will set the subscription channel, source, and sourceNamespace when they are unset by
-// utilizing the PackageManifest API.
+// utilizing the PackageManifest API. If the PackageManifest can not be found, and a subscription already exists for the
+// operator, then information from the found subscription will be used.
 func (r *OperatorPolicyReconciler) applySubscriptionDefaults(
 	ctx context.Context, policy *policyv1beta1.OperatorPolicy, subscription *operatorv1alpha1.Subscription,
 ) error {
@@ -594,10 +595,14 @@ func (r *OperatorPolicyReconciler) applySubscriptionDefaults(
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		if k8serrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-			return fmt.Errorf(
-				"%wthe subscription defaults could not be determined because the PackageManifest was not found",
-				ErrPackageManifest,
-			)
+			if !r.usingExistingSubIfFound(policy, subscription) {
+				return fmt.Errorf(
+					"%wthe subscription defaults could not be determined because the PackageManifest was not found",
+					ErrPackageManifest,
+				)
+			}
+
+			return nil
 		}
 
 		log.Error(err, "Failed to get the PackageManifest", "name", subSpec.Package)
@@ -679,6 +684,55 @@ func (r *OperatorPolicyReconciler) applySubscriptionDefaults(
 	return nil
 }
 
+// usingExistingSubIfFound attempts to find an existing subscription for the operator, and uses values
+// from that object to help build the desired subscription. It is meant to be used when the PackageManifest
+// for the operator is not found. It returns true when a subscription was found and used successfully.
+func (r *OperatorPolicyReconciler) usingExistingSubIfFound(
+	policy *policyv1beta1.OperatorPolicy, subscription *operatorv1alpha1.Subscription,
+) bool {
+	if subscription.Namespace == "" {
+		// check for an already-known subscription to "adopt"
+		subs := policy.Status.RelatedObjsOfKind("Subscription")
+
+		if len(subs) == 1 {
+			// Note: RelatedObjsOfKind returns a map - in this case we just want the one object
+			for _, sub := range subs {
+				subscription.Namespace = sub.Object.Metadata.Namespace
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if subscription.Namespace != "" {
+		watcher := opPolIdentifier(policy.Namespace, policy.Name)
+
+		gotSub, err := r.DynamicWatcher.Get(watcher, subscriptionGVK, subscription.Namespace, subscription.Name)
+		if err != nil || gotSub == nil {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		foundSub := new(operatorv1alpha1.Subscription)
+		if err := runtime.DefaultUnstructuredConverter.FromUnstructured(gotSub.Object, foundSub); err != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		if subscription.Spec.Channel == "" {
+			subscription.Spec.Channel = foundSub.Spec.Channel
+		}
+
+		if subscription.Spec.CatalogSource == "" {
+			subscription.Spec.CatalogSource = foundSub.Spec.CatalogSource
+		}
+
+		if subscription.Spec.CatalogSourceNamespace == "" {
+			subscription.Spec.CatalogSourceNamespace = foundSub.Spec.CatalogSourceNamespace
+		}
+
+		return true
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 // buildSubscription bootstraps the subscription spec defined in the operator policy
 // with the apiversion and kind in preparation for resource creation.
 // If an error is returned, it will include details on why the policy spec if invalid and
diff --git a/test/e2e/case38_install_operator_test.go b/test/e2e/case38_install_operator_test.go
index 586a6b58..87d7f476 100644
--- a/test/e2e/case38_install_operator_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/case38_install_operator_test.go
@@ -246,6 +246,19 @@ var _ = Describe("Testing OperatorPolicy", Ordered, Label("supports-hosted"), fu
 			createObjWithParent(parentPolicyYAML, parentPolicyName,
 				opPolYAML, testNamespace, gvrPolicy, gvrOperatorPolicy)
 		})
+		AfterAll(func(ctx context.Context) {
+			By("Fixing the catalog source")
+			KubectlTarget("patch", "catalogsource", "operatorhubio-catalog", "--namespace=olm", "--type=json", "-p",
+				`[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/image", "value": "quay.io/operatorhubio/catalog:latest"}]`)
+
+			By("Waiting for a packagemanifest to reappear")
+			Eventually(func() error {
+				_, err := targetK8sDynamic.Resource(gvrPackageManifest).Namespace("default").Get(
+					ctx, "airflow-helm-operator", metav1.GetOptions{})
+
+				return err
+			}, olmWaitTimeout*2, 3).Should(Succeed())
+		})
 
 		It("Should create the Subscription with default values", func(ctx context.Context) {
 			By("Verifying the policy is compliant")
@@ -284,6 +297,34 @@ var _ = Describe("Testing OperatorPolicy", Ordered, Label("supports-hosted"), fu
 			sourceNamespace, _, _ := unstructured.NestedString(sub.Object, "spec", "sourceNamespace")
 			Expect(sourceNamespace).To(Equal("olm"))
 		})
+
+		It("Should adopt an existing subscription if removed from the catalog", func(ctx context.Context) {
+			By("Breaking the catalog source")
+			KubectlTarget("patch", "catalogsource", "operatorhubio-catalog", "--namespace=olm", "--type=json", "-p",
+				`[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/image", "value": "quay.io/operatorhubio/catalog:broken"}]`)
+
+			By("ensuring the packagemanifest is gone")
+			Eventually(func() error {
+				_, err := targetK8sDynamic.Resource(gvrPackageManifest).Namespace("default").Get(
+					ctx, "airflow-helm-operator", metav1.GetOptions{})
+
+				return err
+			}, olmWaitTimeout, 3).ShouldNot(Succeed())
+
+			By("Checking the validation condition")
+			check(
+				opPolName,
+				false,
+				[]policyv1.RelatedObject{},
+				metav1.Condition{
+					Type:    "ValidPolicySpec",
+					Status:  metav1.ConditionTrue,
+					Reason:  "PolicyValidated",
+					Message: `the policy spec is valid`,
+				},
+				`the policy spec is valid`,
+			)
+		})
 	})
 
 	Describe("Testing an operator policy with invalid partial defaults", Ordered, func() {
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
index 434578b2..6c5b6d80 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ var (
 	gvrOperatorGroup            schema.GroupVersionResource
 	gvrInstallPlan              schema.GroupVersionResource
 	gvrClusterServiceVersion    schema.GroupVersionResource
+	gvrPackageManifest          schema.GroupVersionResource
 	defaultImageRegistry        string
 	IsHosted                    bool
 	targetK8sClient             kubernetes.Interface
@@ -122,6 +123,11 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 		Version:  "v1alpha1",
 		Resource: "clusterserviceversions",
 	}
+	gvrPackageManifest = schema.GroupVersionResource{
+		Group:    "packages.operators.coreos.com",
+		Version:  "v1",
+		Resource: "packagemanifests",
+	}
 	gvrAPIService = schema.GroupVersionResource{
 		Group:    "apiregistration.k8s.io",
 		Version:  "v1",