diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store.go
index 2dcf99eae52..fa324ed9059 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store.go
@@ -841,21 +841,25 @@ func deletionFinalizersForGarbageCollection(ctx context.Context, e *Store, acces
 }
 
 // markAsDeleting sets the obj's DeletionGracePeriodSeconds to 0, and sets the
-// DeletionTimestamp to "now". Finalizers are watching for such updates and will
+// DeletionTimestamp to "now" if there is no existing deletionTimestamp or if the existing
+// deletionTimestamp is further in future. Finalizers are watching for such updates and will
 // finalize the object if their IDs are present in the object's Finalizers list.
-func markAsDeleting(obj runtime.Object) (err error) {
+func markAsDeleting(obj runtime.Object, now time.Time) (err error) {
 	objectMeta, kerr := meta.Accessor(obj)
 	if kerr != nil {
 		return kerr
 	}
-	now := metav1.NewTime(time.Now())
 	// This handles Generation bump for resources that don't support graceful
 	// deletion. For resources that support graceful deletion is handle in
 	// pkg/api/rest/delete.go
 	if objectMeta.GetDeletionTimestamp() == nil && objectMeta.GetGeneration() > 0 {
 		objectMeta.SetGeneration(objectMeta.GetGeneration() + 1)
 	}
-	objectMeta.SetDeletionTimestamp(&now)
+	existingDeletionTimestamp := objectMeta.GetDeletionTimestamp()
+	if existingDeletionTimestamp == nil || existingDeletionTimestamp.After(now) {
+		metaNow := metav1.NewTime(now)
+		objectMeta.SetDeletionTimestamp(&metaNow)
+	}
 	var zero int64 = 0
 	objectMeta.SetDeletionGracePeriodSeconds(&zero)
 	return nil
@@ -910,7 +914,7 @@ func (e *Store) updateForGracefulDeletionAndFinalizers(ctx context.Context, name
 				// set the DeleteGracePeriods to 0 if the object has pendingFinalizers but not supporting graceful deletion
 				if pendingFinalizers {
 					klog.V(6).Infof("update the DeletionTimestamp to \"now\" and GracePeriodSeconds to 0 for object %s, because it has pending finalizers", name)
-					err = markAsDeleting(existing)
+					err = markAsDeleting(existing, time.Now())
 					if err != nil {
 						return nil, err
 					}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store_test.go
index bdc06164d3d..33c876c35ee 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic/registry/store_test.go
@@ -2108,3 +2108,47 @@ func TestDeletionFinalizersForGarbageCollection(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMarkAsDeleting(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	soon := now.Add(time.Second)
+	past := now.Add(-time.Second)
+
+	newTimePointer := func(t time.Time) *metav1.Time {
+		metaTime := metav1.NewTime(t)
+		return &metaTime
+	}
+	testcases := []struct {
+		name                    string
+		deletionTimestamp       *metav1.Time
+		expectDeletionTimestamp *metav1.Time
+	}{
+		{
+			name:                    "unset",
+			deletionTimestamp:       nil,
+			expectDeletionTimestamp: newTimePointer(now),
+		},
+		{
+			name:                    "set to future",
+			deletionTimestamp:       newTimePointer(soon),
+			expectDeletionTimestamp: newTimePointer(now),
+		},
+		{
+			name:                    "set to past",
+			deletionTimestamp:       newTimePointer(past),
+			expectDeletionTimestamp: newTimePointer(past),
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			rs := &example.ReplicaSet{}
+			rs.DeletionTimestamp = tc.deletionTimestamp
+			if err := markAsDeleting(rs, now); err != nil {
+				t.Error(err)
+			}
+			if reflect.DeepEqual(*rs.DeletionTimestamp, tc.expectDeletionTimestamp) {
+				t.Errorf("expected %v, got %v", tc.expectDeletionTimestamp, *rs.DeletionTimestamp)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}