diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go
index fc8ba3e5448..4e23784ac3d 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ func identityMatches(set *apps.StatefulSet, pod *v1.Pod) bool {
 	return ordinal >= 0 &&
 		set.Name == parent &&
 		pod.Name == getPodName(set, ordinal) &&
-		pod.Namespace == set.Namespace
+		pod.Namespace == set.Namespace &&
+		pod.Labels[apps.StatefulSetPodNameLabel] == pod.Name
 }
 
 // storageMatches returns true if pod's Volumes cover the set of PersistentVolumeClaims
@@ -187,11 +188,15 @@ func initIdentity(set *apps.StatefulSet, pod *v1.Pod) {
 	pod.Spec.Subdomain = set.Spec.ServiceName
 }
 
-// updateIdentity updates pod's name, hostname, and subdomain to conform to set's name and headless service.
+// updateIdentity updates pod's name, hostname, and subdomain, and StatefulSetPodNameLabel to conform to set's name
+// and headless service.
 func updateIdentity(set *apps.StatefulSet, pod *v1.Pod) {
 	pod.Name = getPodName(set, getOrdinal(pod))
 	pod.Namespace = set.Namespace
-
+	if pod.Labels == nil {
+		pod.Labels = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+	pod.Labels[apps.StatefulSetPodNameLabel] = pod.Name
 }
 
 // isRunningAndReady returns true if pod is in the PodRunning Phase, if it has a condition of PodReady.
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils_test.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils_test.go
index 3b5c10c99fc..af5b71c02e9 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils_test.go
@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ func TestIdentityMatches(t *testing.T) {
 	if identityMatches(set, pod) {
 		t.Error("identity matches for a Pod with the wrong namespace")
 	}
+	pod = newStatefulSetPod(set, 1)
+	delete(pod.Labels, apps.StatefulSetPodNameLabel)
+	if identityMatches(set, pod) {
+		t.Error("identity matches for a Pod with the wrong statefulSetPodNameLabel")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestStorageMatches(t *testing.T) {
@@ -127,6 +132,11 @@ func TestUpdateIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 	if !identityMatches(set, pod) {
 		t.Error("updateIdentity failed to update the Pods namespace")
 	}
+	delete(pod.Labels, apps.StatefulSetPodNameLabel)
+	updateIdentity(set, pod)
+	if !identityMatches(set, pod) {
+		t.Error("updateIdentity failed to restore the statefulSetPodName label")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestUpdateStorage(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1/types.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1/types.go
index 913c3b478c4..f32300fe99f 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1/types.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1/types.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const (
 	StatefulSetRevisionLabel       = ControllerRevisionHashLabelKey
 	DeprecatedRollbackTo           = "deprecated.deployment.rollback.to"
 	DeprecatedTemplateGeneration   = "deprecated.daemonset.template.generation"
+	StatefulSetPodNameLabel        = "statefulset.kubernetes.io/pod-name"
 )
 
 // +genclient
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1/types.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1/types.go
index ca30191d479..dd9e97e1015 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 const (
 	ControllerRevisionHashLabelKey = "controller-revision-hash"
 	StatefulSetRevisionLabel       = ControllerRevisionHashLabelKey
+	StatefulSetPodNameLabel        = "statefulset.kubernetes.io/pod-name"
 )
 
 // ScaleSpec describes the attributes of a scale subresource
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta2/types.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta2/types.go
index aaeed4e4d72..5fab12af3af 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta2/types.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta2/types.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const (
 	StatefulSetRevisionLabel       = ControllerRevisionHashLabelKey
 	DeprecatedRollbackTo           = "deprecated.deployment.rollback.to"
 	DeprecatedTemplateGeneration   = "deprecated.daemonset.template.generation"
+	StatefulSetPodNameLabel        = "statefulset.kubernetes.io/pod-name"
 )
 
 // ScaleSpec describes the attributes of a scale subresource