diff --git a/tools/cache/listwatch.go b/tools/cache/listwatch.go
index f5b04a19b..2c4065f01 100644
--- a/tools/cache/listwatch.go
+++ b/tools/cache/listwatch.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch"
 	restclient "k8s.io/client-go/rest"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/util/watchlist"
 )
 
 // Lister is any object that knows how to perform an initial list.
@@ -130,6 +131,35 @@ type listerWatcherWrapper struct {
 	ListerWithContext
 	WatcherWithContext
 }
+type listWatcherWithWatchListSemanticsWrapper struct {
+	*ListWatch
+
+	// unsupportedWatchListSemantics indicates whether a client explicitly does NOT support
+	// WatchList semantics.
+	//
+	// Over the years, unit tests in kube have been written in many different ways.
+	// After enabling the WatchListClient feature by default, existing tests started failing.
+	// To avoid breaking lots of existing client-go users after upgrade,
+	// we introduced this field as an opt-in.
+	//
+	// When true, the reflector disables WatchList even if the feature gate is enabled.
+	unsupportedWatchListSemantics bool
+}
+
+func (lw *listWatcherWithWatchListSemanticsWrapper) IsWatchListSemanticsUnSupported() bool {
+	return lw.unsupportedWatchListSemantics
+}
+
+// ToListWatcherWithWatchListSemantics returns a ListerWatcher
+// that knows whether the provided client explicitly
+// does NOT support the WatchList semantics. This allows Reflectors
+// to adapt their behavior based on client capabilities.
+func ToListWatcherWithWatchListSemantics(lw *ListWatch, client any) ListerWatcher {
+	return &listWatcherWithWatchListSemanticsWrapper{
+		lw,
+		watchlist.DoesClientNotSupportWatchListSemantics(client),
+	}
+}
 
 // ListFunc knows how to list resources
 //
diff --git a/tools/cache/listwatch_test.go b/tools/cache/listwatch_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..70bee04c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cache/listwatch_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cache
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"k8s.io/client-go/util/watchlist"
+)
+
+type fakeWatchListClient struct {
+	unSupportedWatchListSemantics bool
+}
+
+func (f fakeWatchListClient) IsWatchListSemanticsUnSupported() bool {
+	return f.unSupportedWatchListSemantics
+}
+
+func TestToListWatcherWithWatchListSemantics(t *testing.T) {
+	scenarios := []struct {
+		name                                string
+		client                              any
+		expectUnSupportedWatchListSemantics bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:                                "client which doesn't implement the interface supports WatchList semantics",
+			client:                              nil,
+			expectUnSupportedWatchListSemantics: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                                "client does not support WatchList semantics",
+			client:                              fakeWatchListClient{unSupportedWatchListSemantics: true},
+			expectUnSupportedWatchListSemantics: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                                "client supports WatchList semantics",
+			client:                              fakeWatchListClient{unSupportedWatchListSemantics: false},
+			expectUnSupportedWatchListSemantics: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, scenario := range scenarios {
+		t.Run(scenario.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			target := ToListWatcherWithWatchListSemantics(&ListWatch{}, scenario.client)
+
+			if got := watchlist.DoesClientNotSupportWatchListSemantics(target); got != scenario.expectUnSupportedWatchListSemantics {
+				t.Fatalf("DoesClientNotSupportWatchListSemantics returned: %v, want: %v", got, scenario.expectUnSupportedWatchListSemantics)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}