diff --git a/docs/admin/troubleshooting.md b/docs/admin/troubleshooting.md
index 1f49bf1eb4d..f7e0414be4e 100644
--- a/docs/admin/troubleshooting.md
+++ b/docs/admin/troubleshooting.md
@@ -463,6 +463,15 @@ fabric_iface_port: 31316
 # engine 1
 fabric_iface_port: 31416
 ```
+### daos_agent cache of engine URIs is stale
+
+The `daos_agent` cache may become invalid if `daos_engine` processes restart with different
+configurations or IP addresses, or if the DAOS system is reformatted.
+If this happens, the `daos` tool (as well as other I/O or `libdaos` operations) may return
+`-DER_BAD_TARGET` (-1035) errors.
+
+To resolve the issue, a privileged user may send a `SIGUSR2` signal to the `daos_agent` process to
+force an immediate cache refresh.
 
 ## Diagnostic and Recovery Tools
 
diff --git a/src/control/cmd/daos_agent/infocache.go b/src/control/cmd/daos_agent/infocache.go
index 0eec423bd35..0dbdf4fc645 100644
--- a/src/control/cmd/daos_agent/infocache.go
+++ b/src/control/cmd/daos_agent/infocache.go
@@ -139,9 +139,6 @@ func (ci *cachedAttachInfo) Refresh(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return errors.New("cachedAttachInfo is nil")
 	}
 
-	ci.Lock()
-	defer ci.Unlock()
-
 	req := &control.GetAttachInfoReq{System: ci.system, AllRanks: true}
 	resp, err := ci.fetch(ctx, ci.rpcClient, req)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -185,9 +182,6 @@ func (cfi *cachedFabricInfo) Refresh(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return errors.New("cachedFabricInfo is nil")
 	}
 
-	cfi.Lock()
-	defer cfi.Unlock()
-
 	results, err := cfi.fetch(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "refreshing cached fabric info")
@@ -328,7 +322,28 @@ func (c *InfoCache) GetAttachInfo(ctx context.Context, sys string) (*control.Get
 		return nil, errors.Errorf("unexpected attach info data type %T", item)
 	}
 
-	return cai.lastResponse, nil
+	return copyGetAttachInfoResp(cai.lastResponse), nil
+}
+
+func copyGetAttachInfoResp(orig *control.GetAttachInfoResp) *control.GetAttachInfoResp {
+	if orig == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	cp := new(control.GetAttachInfoResp)
+	*cp = *orig
+
+	// Copy slices instead of using original pointers
+	cp.MSRanks = make([]uint32, len(orig.MSRanks))
+	_ = copy(cp.MSRanks, orig.MSRanks)
+	cp.ServiceRanks = make([]*control.PrimaryServiceRank, len(orig.ServiceRanks))
+	_ = copy(cp.ServiceRanks, orig.ServiceRanks)
+
+	if orig.ClientNetHint.EnvVars != nil {
+		cp.ClientNetHint.EnvVars = make([]string, len(orig.ClientNetHint.EnvVars))
+		_ = copy(cp.ClientNetHint.EnvVars, orig.ClientNetHint.EnvVars)
+	}
+	return cp
 }
 
 func (c *InfoCache) getAttachInfoRemote(ctx context.Context, sys string) (*control.GetAttachInfoResp, error) {
diff --git a/src/control/lib/cache/cache.go b/src/control/lib/cache/cache.go
index 4ffd98e3fb7..c31d82b0a61 100644
--- a/src/control/lib/cache/cache.go
+++ b/src/control/lib/cache/cache.go
@@ -94,6 +94,13 @@ func (ic *ItemCache) Keys() []string {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	ic.mutex.RLock()
+	defer ic.mutex.RUnlock()
+
+	return ic.keys()
+}
+
+func (ic *ItemCache) keys() []string {
 	keys := []string{}
 	for k := range ic.items {
 		keys = append(keys, k)
@@ -144,13 +151,14 @@ func (ic *ItemCache) GetOrCreate(ctx context.Context, key string, missFn ItemCre
 		ic.set(item)
 	}
 
+	item.Lock()
 	if item.NeedsRefresh() {
 		if err := item.Refresh(ctx); err != nil {
+			item.Unlock()
 			return nil, noopRelease, errors.Wrapf(err, "fetch data for %q", key)
 		}
 		ic.log.Debugf("refreshed item %q", key)
 	}
-	item.Lock()
 
 	return item, item.Unlock, nil
 }
@@ -174,13 +182,14 @@ func (ic *ItemCache) Get(ctx context.Context, key string) (Item, func(), error)
 		return nil, noopRelease, err
 	}
 
+	item.Lock()
 	if item.NeedsRefresh() {
 		if err := item.Refresh(ctx); err != nil {
+			item.Unlock()
 			return nil, noopRelease, errors.Wrapf(err, "fetch data for %q", key)
 		}
 		ic.log.Debugf("refreshed item %q", key)
 	}
-	item.Lock()
 
 	return item, item.Unlock, nil
 }
@@ -203,18 +212,28 @@ func (ic *ItemCache) Refresh(ctx context.Context, keys ...string) error {
 	defer ic.mutex.Unlock()
 
 	if len(keys) == 0 {
-		keys = ic.Keys()
+		keys = ic.keys()
 	}
 
 	for _, key := range keys {
-		item, err := ic.get(key)
-		if err != nil {
+		if err := ic.refreshItem(ctx, key); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
 
-		if err := item.Refresh(ctx); err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to refresh cached item %q", item.Key())
-		}
+func (ic *ItemCache) refreshItem(ctx context.Context, key string) error {
+	item, err := ic.get(key)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
+
+	item.Lock()
+	defer item.Unlock()
+	if err := item.Refresh(ctx); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to refresh cached item %q", item.Key())
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }