diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/images/image_gc_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/images/image_gc_manager.go
index b13ec8f470b..d4f47b5c78b 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/images/image_gc_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/images/image_gc_manager.go
@@ -494,7 +494,10 @@ func (im *realImageGCManager) freeImage(ctx context.Context, image evictionInfo,
 	if isRuntimeClassInImageCriAPIEnabled {
 		imageKey = getImageTuple(image.id, image.runtimeHandlerUsedToPullImage)
 	}
+
+	im.imageRecordsLock.Lock()
 	delete(im.imageRecords, imageKey)
+	im.imageRecordsLock.Unlock()
 
 	metrics.ImageGarbageCollectedTotal.WithLabelValues(reason).Inc()
 	return err