diff --git a/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index e299fb022a4..da503526d69 100644
--- a/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -622,6 +622,12 @@ const (
 	// alpha: v1.21
 	VolumeCapacityPriority featuregate.Feature = "VolumeCapacityPriority"
 
+	// owner: @mattcary
+	// alpha: v1.22
+	//
+	// Enables policies controlling deletion of PVCs created by a StatefulSet.
+	StatefulSetAutoDeletePVC featuregate.Feature = "StatefulSetAutoDeletePVC"
+
 	// owner: @ahg-g
 	// alpha: v1.21
 	// beta: v1.22
@@ -815,6 +821,7 @@ var defaultKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 	ProbeTerminationGracePeriod:                    {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	RunAsGroup:                                     {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.GA, LockToDefault: true}, // remove in 1.22
 	PodDeletionCost:                                {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
+	StatefulSetAutoDeletePVC:                       {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	TopologyAwareHints:                             {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	PodAffinityNamespaceSelector:                   {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	ServiceLoadBalancerClass:                       {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
diff --git a/pkg/registry/apps/statefulset/strategy.go b/pkg/registry/apps/statefulset/strategy.go
index 5b5ff04af95..9c3a818c399 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apps/statefulset/strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apps/statefulset/strategy.go
@@ -30,10 +30,12 @@ import (
 	genericapirequest "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/names"
+	utilfeature "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/feature"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/legacyscheme"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/pod"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/apps"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/apps/validation"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/features"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4/fieldpath"
 )