diff --git a/pkg/api/resource/quantity.go b/pkg/api/resource/quantity.go
index 19d497df829..aeb43c89767 100644
--- a/pkg/api/resource/quantity.go
+++ b/pkg/api/resource/quantity.go
@@ -349,6 +349,11 @@ func (q *Quantity) Add(y Quantity) error {
 		q.Amount = &inf.Dec{}
 		return q.Add(y)
 	default:
+		// we want to preserve the format of the non-zero value
+		zero := &inf.Dec{}
+		if q.Amount.Cmp(zero) == 0 && y.Amount.Cmp(zero) != 0 {
+			q.Format = y.Format
+		}
 		q.Amount.Add(q.Amount, y.Amount)
 	}
 	return nil
@@ -362,11 +367,32 @@ func (q *Quantity) Sub(y Quantity) error {
 		q.Amount = &inf.Dec{}
 		return q.Sub(y)
 	default:
+		// we want to preserve the format of the non-zero value
+		zero := &inf.Dec{}
+		if q.Amount.Cmp(zero) == 0 && y.Amount.Cmp(zero) != 0 {
+			q.Format = y.Format
+		}
 		q.Amount.Sub(q.Amount, y.Amount)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Neg sets q to the negative value of y.
+// It updates the format of q to match y.
+func (q *Quantity) Neg(y Quantity) error {
+	switch {
+	case y.Amount == nil:
+		*q = y
+	case q.Amount == nil:
+		q.Amount = &inf.Dec{}
+		fallthrough
+	default:
+		q.Amount.Neg(y.Amount)
+		q.Format = y.Format
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // MarshalJSON implements the json.Marshaller interface.
 func (q Quantity) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return []byte(`"` + q.String() + `"`), nil
diff --git a/pkg/api/resource/quantity_test.go b/pkg/api/resource/quantity_test.go
index a9f4d6aaf4d..bb62251e237 100644
--- a/pkg/api/resource/quantity_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/resource/quantity_test.go
@@ -65,6 +65,70 @@ func TestQuantityParseZero(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestQuantityAddZeroPreservesSuffix verifies that a suffix is preserved
+// independent of the order of operations when adding a zero and non-zero val
+func TestQuantityAddZeroPreservesSuffix(t *testing.T) {
+	testValues := []string{"100m", "1Gi"}
+	zero := MustParse("0")
+	for _, testValue := range testValues {
+		value := MustParse(testValue)
+		v1 := *value.Copy()
+		// ensure non-zero + zero = non-zero (suffix preserved)
+		err := v1.Add(zero)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+		}
+		// ensure zero + non-zero = non-zero (suffix preserved)
+		v2 := *zero.Copy()
+		err = v2.Add(value)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+		}
+		// ensure we preserved the input value
+		if v1.String() != testValue {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %v, actual %v", testValue, v1.String())
+		}
+		if v2.String() != testValue {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %v, actual %v", testValue, v2.String())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestQuantitySubZeroPreservesSuffix verifies that a suffix is preserved
+// independent of the order of operations when subtracting a zero and non-zero val
+func TestQuantitySubZeroPreservesSuffix(t *testing.T) {
+	testValues := []string{"100m", "1Gi"}
+	zero := MustParse("0")
+	for _, testValue := range testValues {
+		value := MustParse(testValue)
+		v1 := *value.Copy()
+		// ensure non-zero - zero = non-zero (suffix preserved)
+		err := v1.Sub(zero)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+		}
+		// ensure we preserved the input value
+		if v1.String() != testValue {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %v, actual %v", testValue, v1.String())
+		}
+
+		// ensure zero - non-zero = -non-zero (suffix preserved)
+		v2 := *zero.Copy()
+		err = v2.Sub(value)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+		}
+		negVal := *value.Copy()
+		err = negVal.Neg(negVal)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+		}
+		if v2.String() != negVal.String() {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %v, actual %v", negVal.String(), v2.String())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // Verifies that you get 0 as canonical value if internal value is 0, and not 0<suffix>
 func TestQuantityCanocicalizeZero(t *testing.T) {
 	val := MustParse("1000m")
@@ -667,6 +731,62 @@ func TestSub(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestNeg(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		a        Quantity
+		b        Quantity
+		expected Quantity
+	}{
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{dec(0, 0), DecimalSI},
+			b:        Quantity{dec(10, 0), DecimalSI},
+			expected: Quantity{dec(-10, 0), DecimalSI},
+		},
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{dec(0, 0), DecimalSI},
+			b:        Quantity{dec(-10, 0), DecimalSI},
+			expected: Quantity{dec(10, 0), DecimalSI},
+		},
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{dec(0, 0), DecimalSI},
+			b:        Quantity{dec(10, 0), BinarySI},
+			expected: Quantity{dec(-10, 0), BinarySI},
+		},
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{dec(0, 0), DecimalSI},
+			b:        Quantity{dec(0, 0), BinarySI},
+			expected: Quantity{dec(0, 0), BinarySI},
+		},
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{},
+			b:        Quantity{dec(10, 0), BinarySI},
+			expected: Quantity{dec(-10, 0), BinarySI},
+		},
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{dec(10, 0), BinarySI},
+			b:        Quantity{},
+			expected: Quantity{},
+		},
+		{
+			a:        Quantity{dec(10, 0), BinarySI},
+			b:        Quantity{Format: DecimalSI},
+			expected: Quantity{dec(0, 0), DecimalSI},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for i, test := range tests {
+		test.a.Neg(test.b)
+		// ensure value is same
+		if test.a.Cmp(test.expected) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("[%d] Expected %q, got %q", i, test.expected.String(), test.a.String())
+		}
+		// ensure format is updated
+		if test.a.Format != test.expected.Format {
+			t.Errorf("[%d] Expected format %v, got format %v", i, test.expected.Format, test.a.Format)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAdd(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		a        Quantity