diff --git a/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation.go b/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation.go
index c2e05ed61f0..f29e04e58da 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation.go
@@ -3973,6 +3973,7 @@ func ValidatePodUpdate(newPod, oldPod *core.Pod, opts PodValidationOptions) fiel
 	// 1.  spec.containers[*].image
 	// 2.  spec.initContainers[*].image
 	// 3.  spec.activeDeadlineSeconds
+	// 4.  spec.terminationGracePeriodSeconds
 
 	containerErrs, stop := ValidateContainerUpdates(newPod.Spec.Containers, oldPod.Spec.Containers, specPath.Child("containers"))
 	allErrs = append(allErrs, containerErrs...)
@@ -4039,11 +4040,17 @@ func ValidatePodUpdate(newPod, oldPod *core.Pod, opts PodValidationOptions) fiel
 	// tolerations are checked before the deep copy, so munge those too
 	mungedPodSpec.Tolerations = oldPod.Spec.Tolerations // +k8s:verify-mutation:reason=clone
 
+	// Relax validation of immutable fields to allow it to be set to 1 if it was previously negative.
+	if oldPod.Spec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds != nil && *oldPod.Spec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds < 0 &&
+		mungedPodSpec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds != nil && *mungedPodSpec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds == 1 {
+		mungedPodSpec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = oldPod.Spec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds // +k8s:verify-mutation:reason=clone
+	}
+
 	if !apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(mungedPodSpec, oldPod.Spec) {
 		// This diff isn't perfect, but it's a helluva lot better an "I'm not going to tell you what the difference is".
 		//TODO: Pinpoint the specific field that causes the invalid error after we have strategic merge diff
 		specDiff := diff.ObjectDiff(mungedPodSpec, oldPod.Spec)
-		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Forbidden(specPath, fmt.Sprintf("pod updates may not change fields other than `spec.containers[*].image`, `spec.initContainers[*].image`, `spec.activeDeadlineSeconds` or `spec.tolerations` (only additions to existing tolerations)\n%v", specDiff)))
+		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Forbidden(specPath, fmt.Sprintf("pod updates may not change fields other than `spec.containers[*].image`, `spec.initContainers[*].image`, `spec.activeDeadlineSeconds`, `spec.tolerations` (only additions to existing tolerations) or `spec.terminationGracePeriodSeconds` (allow it to be set to 1 if it was previously negative)\n%v", specDiff)))
 	}
 
 	return allErrs
diff --git a/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation_test.go
index d444b68b564..6f165887391 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/core/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -9803,6 +9803,46 @@ func TestValidatePodUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			"spec: Forbidden: pod updates",
 			"removed priority class name",
 		},
+		{
+			core.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "foo",
+				},
+				Spec: core.PodSpec{
+					TerminationGracePeriodSeconds: utilpointer.Int64Ptr(1),
+				},
+			},
+			core.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "foo",
+				},
+				Spec: core.PodSpec{
+					TerminationGracePeriodSeconds: utilpointer.Int64Ptr(-1),
+				},
+			},
+			"",
+			"update termination grace period seconds",
+		},
+		{
+			core.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "foo",
+				},
+				Spec: core.PodSpec{
+					TerminationGracePeriodSeconds: utilpointer.Int64Ptr(0),
+				},
+			},
+			core.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "foo",
+				},
+				Spec: core.PodSpec{
+					TerminationGracePeriodSeconds: utilpointer.Int64Ptr(-1),
+				},
+			},
+			"spec: Forbidden: pod updates",
+			"update termination grace period seconds not 1",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {