diff --git a/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides.go b/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides.go
index 45c530a14a2..c73b442a1a7 100644
--- a/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides.go
+++ b/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides.go
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package clusters
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/libs/cmdio"
+	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/apierr"
 	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/service/compute"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -93,8 +95,26 @@ func sparkVersionsOverride(sparkVersionsCmd *cobra.Command) {
 	`)
 }
 
+// startIdempotentOverride matches the generated help text: starting a cluster
+// that is not TERMINATED is a no-op. The Clusters API returns INVALID_STATE
+// (ErrInvalidState) for that case, which made scripts fail despite the docs.
+func startIdempotentOverride(startCmd *cobra.Command, _ *compute.StartCluster) {
+	originalRunE := startCmd.RunE
+	startCmd.RunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		err := originalRunE(cmd, args)
+		if err == nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+		if errors.Is(err, apierr.ErrInvalidState) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+}
+
 func init() {
 	listOverrides = append(listOverrides, listOverride)
 	listNodeTypesOverrides = append(listNodeTypesOverrides, listNodeTypesOverride)
 	sparkVersionsOverrides = append(sparkVersionsOverrides, sparkVersionsOverride)
+	startOverrides = append(startOverrides, startIdempotentOverride)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides_test.go b/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f4cd221eb86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/workspace/clusters/overrides_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package clusters
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/apierr"
+	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/service/compute"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestStartIdempotentOverride(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("swallows INVALID_STATE from a non terminated cluster", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cmd := &cobra.Command{}
+		cmd.RunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			return apierr.ErrInvalidState
+		}
+
+		startIdempotentOverride(cmd, &compute.StartCluster{})
+		require.NoError(t, cmd.RunE(cmd, nil))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("swallows APIError with INVALID_STATE code", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cmd := &cobra.Command{}
+		cmd.RunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			return &apierr.APIError{
+				ErrorCode: "INVALID_STATE",
+				Message:   "Cluster abc is in unexpected state Running.",
+			}
+		}
+
+		startIdempotentOverride(cmd, &compute.StartCluster{})
+		require.NoError(t, cmd.RunE(cmd, nil))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("preserves other errors", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cmd := &cobra.Command{}
+		want := errors.New("boom")
+		cmd.RunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			return want
+		}
+
+		startIdempotentOverride(cmd, &compute.StartCluster{})
+		err := cmd.RunE(cmd, nil)
+		require.Error(t, err)
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, err, want)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("passes success through", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cmd := &cobra.Command{}
+		cmd.RunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		startIdempotentOverride(cmd, &compute.StartCluster{})
+		require.NoError(t, cmd.RunE(cmd, nil))
+	})
+}