Exactly. If you put it off too long you won't be able to do the update it would need.
An example is a Coolpix S4000 I inherited from a brother. It had a firmware fix for a condition that prevented the camera from taking a charge when the battery was excessively discharged. Simple fix, but it was already excessively discharged when I got it. I had to do some redneck engineering with a Panasonic battery charger to put enough energy into the battery and finally take the rest of the charge with the USB cable. Then I applied the update and it has functioned since.