diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go
index 1f4e796fbd0..067bcac0a0d 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go
@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
+
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/selection"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
-	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -115,6 +116,15 @@ func Nothing() Selector {
 	return sharedNothingSelector
 }
 
+// MatchesNothing only returns true for selectors which are definitively determined to match no objects.
+// This currently only detects the `labels.Nothing()` selector, but may change over time to detect more selectors that match no objects.
+//
+// Note: The current implementation does not check for selector conflict scenarios (e.g., a=a,a!=a).
+// Support for detecting such cases can be added in the future.
+func MatchesNothing(selector Selector) bool {
+	return selector == sharedNothingSelector
+}
+
 // NewSelector returns a nil selector
 func NewSelector() Selector {
 	return internalSelector(nil)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go
index be956909a13..91dfd51d56c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go
@@ -1099,3 +1099,114 @@ func TestRequirementEqual(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMatchesNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		selector      string
+		set           map[string]string
+		labelSelector Selector
+		want          bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:          "MatchNothing should match Nothing()",
+			labelSelector: Nothing(),
+			want:          true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "MatchNothing should match sharedNothingSelector",
+			labelSelector: sharedNothingSelector,
+			want:          true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "MatchNothing should not match Everything()",
+			labelSelector: Everything(),
+			want:          false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "MatchNothing should not match sharedEverythingSelector",
+			labelSelector: sharedEverythingSelector,
+			want:          false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "MatchNothing should not match empty set",
+			set:  map[string]string{},
+			want: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "MatchNothing should not match non-empty set",
+			set:  map[string]string{"key": "value"},
+			want: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match empty selector",
+			selector: "",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - exists",
+			selector: "a",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - not exists",
+			selector: "!a",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - equals",
+			selector: "a=b",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - not equals",
+			selector: "a!=b",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - in",
+			selector: "a in (b)",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - notin",
+			selector: "a notin (b)",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - conflict exists and not exists",
+			selector: "a,!a",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - conflict equals and not equals",
+			selector: "a=b,a!=b",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "MatchNothing should not match non-empty selector - conflict in and notin",
+			selector: "a in (b),a notin (b)",
+			want:     false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < len(tests); i++ {
+		if tests[i].labelSelector != nil {
+			expectMatchNothing(t, tests[i].labelSelector, tests[i].want)
+		} else if tests[i].set != nil {
+			expectMatchNothing(t, SelectorFromSet(tests[i].set), tests[i].want)
+		} else {
+			selector, err := Parse(tests[i].selector)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("Unable to parse %v as a selector.\n", selector)
+			}
+			expectMatchNothing(t, selector, tests[i].want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func expectMatchNothing(t *testing.T, selector Selector, want bool) {
+	if MatchesNothing(selector) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Wanted %s to MatchNothing '%t', but it did not.\n", selector, want)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers.go
index 9e050ff45e7..dc4dfd2cd48 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers.go
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ type AppendFunc func(interface{})
 
 // ListAll lists items in the store matching the given selector, calling appendFn on each one.
 func ListAll(store Store, selector labels.Selector, appendFn AppendFunc) error {
+	if labels.MatchesNothing(selector) {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	selectAll := selector.Empty()
 	for _, m := range store.List() {
 		if selectAll {
@@ -55,6 +59,10 @@ func ListAll(store Store, selector labels.Selector, appendFn AppendFunc) error {
 // calling appendFn on each one.
 // If a blank namespace (NamespaceAll) is specified, this delegates to ListAll().
 func ListAllByNamespace(indexer Indexer, namespace string, selector labels.Selector, appendFn AppendFunc) error {
+	if labels.MatchesNothing(selector) {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if namespace == metav1.NamespaceAll {
 		return ListAll(indexer, selector, appendFn)
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers_test.go
index 730807f6e38..18f3ee35d8e 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache/listers_test.go
@@ -138,3 +138,23 @@ func BenchmarkLister_Match_100k_100(b *testing.B) {
 func BenchmarkLister_Match_1M_100(b *testing.B) {
 	benchmarkLister(b, 1000000, 100, map[string]string{"match": "true"})
 }
+
+func benchmarkNothingLister(b *testing.B, numObjects int, numMatching int, labelSelector *metav1.LabelSelector) {
+	store := mustCreateStore(numObjects, numMatching, nil)
+	selector, err := metav1.LabelSelectorAsSelector(labelSelector)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatalf("LabelSelectorAsSelector returned an error: %v", err)
+	}
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
+		err := ListAll(store, selector, func(m interface{}) {
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("ListAll returned an error: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkLister_Match_1M_0(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkNothingLister(b, 1000000, 0, nil)
+}