diff --git a/pkg/controlplane/controller/apiserverleasegc/gc_controller_test.go b/pkg/controlplane/controller/apiserverleasegc/gc_controller_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..76fe4c2a49b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/controlplane/controller/apiserverleasegc/gc_controller_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2022 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package apiserverleasegc
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	coordinationv1 "k8s.io/api/coordination/v1"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
+	testingclock "k8s.io/utils/clock/testing"
+	"k8s.io/utils/pointer"
+)
+
+func Test_Controller(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeClock := testingclock.NewFakeClock(time.Now())
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		lease         *coordinationv1.Lease
+		expectDeleted bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "lease not expired",
+			lease: &coordinationv1.Lease{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "kube-apiserver-12345",
+					Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem,
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"k8s.io/component": "kube-apiserver",
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: coordinationv1.LeaseSpec{
+					HolderIdentity:       pointer.StringPtr("kube-apiserver-12345"),
+					LeaseDurationSeconds: pointer.Int32Ptr(10),
+					RenewTime:            &metav1.MicroTime{Time: fakeClock.Now()},
+				},
+			},
+			expectDeleted: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "expired lease but with a different component label",
+			lease: &coordinationv1.Lease{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "kube-apiserver-12345",
+					Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem,
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"k8s.io/component": "kube-controller-manager",
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: coordinationv1.LeaseSpec{
+					HolderIdentity:       pointer.StringPtr("kube-apiserver-12345"),
+					LeaseDurationSeconds: pointer.Int32Ptr(10),
+					RenewTime:            &metav1.MicroTime{Time: fakeClock.Now().Add(-time.Minute)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectDeleted: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "lease expired due to expired renew time",
+			lease: &coordinationv1.Lease{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "kube-apiserver-12345",
+					Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem,
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"k8s.io/component": "kube-apiserver",
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: coordinationv1.LeaseSpec{
+					HolderIdentity:       pointer.StringPtr("kube-apiserver-12345"),
+					LeaseDurationSeconds: pointer.Int32Ptr(10),
+					RenewTime:            &metav1.MicroTime{Time: fakeClock.Now().Add(-time.Minute)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectDeleted: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "lease expired due to nil renew time",
+			lease: &coordinationv1.Lease{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "kube-apiserver-12345",
+					Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem,
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"k8s.io/component": "kube-apiserver",
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: coordinationv1.LeaseSpec{
+					HolderIdentity:       pointer.StringPtr("kube-apiserver-12345"),
+					LeaseDurationSeconds: pointer.Int32Ptr(10),
+					RenewTime:            nil,
+				},
+			},
+			expectDeleted: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "lease expired due to nil lease duration seconds",
+			lease: &coordinationv1.Lease{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "kube-apiserver-12345",
+					Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem,
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"k8s.io/component": "kube-apiserver",
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: coordinationv1.LeaseSpec{
+					HolderIdentity:       pointer.StringPtr("kube-apiserver-12345"),
+					LeaseDurationSeconds: nil,
+					RenewTime:            &metav1.MicroTime{Time: fakeClock.Now().Add(-time.Minute)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectDeleted: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			clientset := fake.NewSimpleClientset(test.lease)
+			controller := NewAPIServerLeaseGC(clientset, 100*time.Millisecond, metav1.NamespaceSystem, "k8s.io/component=kube-apiserver")
+			go controller.Run(nil)
+
+			time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+
+			_, err := clientset.CoordinationV1().Leases(test.lease.Namespace).Get(context.TODO(), test.lease.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
+			if err != nil && !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error %v", err)
+			}
+
+			if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) && !test.expectDeleted {
+				t.Errorf("lease was not deleted")
+			}
+
+			if err == nil && test.expectDeleted {
+				t.Error("lease was not deleted")
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}