diff --git a/pkg/registry/core/node/strategy.go b/pkg/registry/core/node/strategy.go
index 2e442f2498c..a699f084511 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/core/node/strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/core/node/strategy.go
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func dropDisabledFields(node *api.Node, oldNode *api.Node) {
 		node.Status.RuntimeHandlers = nil
 	}
 
-	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.SupplementalGroupsPolicy) {
+	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.SupplementalGroupsPolicy) && !supplementalGroupsPolicyInUse(oldNode) {
 		node.Status.Features = nil
 	}
 }
@@ -299,3 +299,11 @@ func fieldIsDeprecatedWarnings(obj runtime.Object) []string {
 	}
 	return warnings
 }
+
+// supplementalGroupsPolicyInUse returns true if the node.status has NodeFeature
+func supplementalGroupsPolicyInUse(node *api.Node) bool {
+	if node == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return node.Status.Features != nil
+}