diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh
index 54b5757bdda..ef0a924cbac 100644
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh
@@ -2747,6 +2747,7 @@ runTests() {
   hpa_max_field=".spec.maxReplicas"
   hpa_cpu_field=".spec.targetCPUUtilizationPercentage"
   statefulset_replicas_field=".spec.replicas"
+  statefulset_observed_generation=".status.observedGeneration"
   job_parallelism_field=".spec.parallelism"
   deployment_replicas=".spec.replicas"
   secret_data=".data"
@@ -3180,10 +3181,12 @@ runTests() {
     ### Scale statefulset test with current-replicas and replicas
     # Pre-condition: 0 replicas
     kube::test::get_object_assert 'statefulset nginx' "{{$statefulset_replicas_field}}" '0'
+    kube::test::wait_object_assert 'statefulset nginx' "{{$statefulset_observed_generation}}" '1'
     # Command: Scale up
     kubectl scale --current-replicas=0 --replicas=1 statefulset nginx "${kube_flags[@]}"
     # Post-condition: 1 replica, named nginx-0
     kube::test::get_object_assert 'statefulset nginx' "{{$statefulset_replicas_field}}" '1'
+    kube::test::wait_object_assert 'statefulset nginx' "{{$statefulset_observed_generation}}" '2'
     # Typically we'd wait and confirm that N>1 replicas are up, but this framework
     # doesn't start  the scheduler, so pet-0 will block all others.
     # TODO: test robust scaling in an e2e.
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control.go
index 94b8954bfb1..9c75d99869f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control.go
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ type StatefulPodControlInterface interface {
 	// DeleteStatefulPod deletes a Pod in a StatefulSet. The pods PVCs are not deleted. If the delete is successful,
 	// the returned error is nil.
 	DeleteStatefulPod(set *apps.StatefulSet, pod *v1.Pod) error
-	// UpdateStatefulSetStatus Updates the Status.Replicas of a StatefulSet. set is an in-out parameter, and any
+	// UpdateStatefulSetStatus updates the status of a StatefulSet. set is an in-out parameter, and any
 	// updates made to the set are made visible as mutations to the parameter. If the method is successful, the
-	// returned error is nil, and set has its Status.Replicas field set to replicas.
-	UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set *apps.StatefulSet, replicas int32) error
+	// returned error is nil, and set has its status updated.
+	UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set *apps.StatefulSet, replicas int32, generation int64) error
 }
 
 func NewRealStatefulPodControl(
@@ -150,9 +150,10 @@ func (spc *realStatefulPodControl) DeleteStatefulPod(set *apps.StatefulSet, pod
 	return err
 }
 
-func (spc *realStatefulPodControl) UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set *apps.StatefulSet, replicas int32) error {
+func (spc *realStatefulPodControl) UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set *apps.StatefulSet, replicas int32, generation int64) error {
 	return retry.RetryOnConflict(retry.DefaultBackoff, func() error {
 		set.Status.Replicas = replicas
+		set.Status.ObservedGeneration = &generation
 		_, err := spc.client.Apps().StatefulSets(set.Namespace).UpdateStatus(set)
 		if err == nil {
 			return nil
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control_test.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control_test.go
index 163947ccaac..2ba4fd20550 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_pod_control_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/v1"
 	podapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/v1/pod"
+	apps "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/apps/v1beta1"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/clientset_generated/clientset/fake"
 	appslisters "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/listers/apps/v1beta1"
 	corelisters "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/listers/core/v1"
@@ -470,7 +471,7 @@ func TestStatefulPodControlUpdatesSetStatus(t *testing.T) {
 		update := action.(core.UpdateAction)
 		return true, update.GetObject(), nil
 	})
-	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set, 2); err != nil {
+	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set, 2, 1); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("Error returned on successful status update: %s", err)
 	}
 	if set.Status.Replicas != 2 {
@@ -482,6 +483,24 @@ func TestStatefulPodControlUpdatesSetStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestStatefulPodControlUpdatesObservedGeneration(t *testing.T) {
+	recorder := record.NewFakeRecorder(10)
+	set := newStatefulSet(3)
+	fakeClient := &fake.Clientset{}
+	control := NewRealStatefulPodControl(fakeClient, nil, nil, nil, recorder)
+	fakeClient.AddReactor("update", "statefulsets", func(action core.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+		update := action.(core.UpdateAction)
+		sts := update.GetObject().(*apps.StatefulSet)
+		if sts.Status.ObservedGeneration == nil || *sts.Status.ObservedGeneration != int64(3) {
+			t.Errorf("expected observedGeneration to be synced with generation for statefulset %q", sts.Name)
+		}
+		return true, sts, nil
+	})
+	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set, 2, 3); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Error returned on successful status update: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestStatefulPodControlUpdateReplicasFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	recorder := record.NewFakeRecorder(10)
 	set := newStatefulSet(3)
@@ -493,7 +512,7 @@ func TestStatefulPodControlUpdateReplicasFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	fakeClient.AddReactor("update", "statefulsets", func(action core.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
 		return true, nil, apierrors.NewInternalError(errors.New("API server down"))
 	})
-	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set, 2); err == nil {
+	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set, 2, 1); err == nil {
 		t.Error("Failed update did not return error")
 	}
 	events := collectEvents(recorder.Events)
@@ -520,7 +539,7 @@ func TestStatefulPodControlUpdateReplicasConflict(t *testing.T) {
 			return true, update.GetObject(), nil
 		}
 	})
-	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set, 2); err != nil {
+	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set, 2, 1); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("UpdateStatefulSetStatus returned an error: %s", err)
 	}
 	if set.Status.Replicas != 2 {
@@ -544,7 +563,7 @@ func TestStatefulPodControlUpdateReplicasConflictFailure(t *testing.T) {
 		update := action.(core.UpdateAction)
 		return true, update.GetObject(), apierrors.NewConflict(action.GetResource().GroupResource(), set.Name, errors.New("Object already exists"))
 	})
-	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set, 2); err == nil {
+	if err := control.UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set, 2, 1); err == nil {
 		t.Error("UpdateStatefulSetStatus failed to return an error on get failure")
 	}
 	events := collectEvents(recorder.Events)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
index dcac5e3ecbf..d3ce799b2ef 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
@@ -99,14 +99,14 @@ func (ssc *defaultStatefulSetControl) UpdateStatefulSet(set *apps.StatefulSet, p
 	sort.Sort(ascendingOrdinal(condemned))
 
 	// if the current number of replicas has changed update the statefulSets replicas
-	if set.Status.Replicas != int32(ready) {
+	if set.Status.Replicas != int32(ready) || set.Status.ObservedGeneration == nil || set.Generation > *set.Status.ObservedGeneration {
 		obj, err := api.Scheme.Copy(set)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("unable to copy set: %v", err)
 		}
 		set = obj.(*apps.StatefulSet)
 
-		if err := ssc.podControl.UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set, int32(ready)); err != nil {
+		if err := ssc.podControl.UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set, int32(ready), set.Generation); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
index 3e6277e6674..2a74eeea89f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
@@ -769,13 +769,14 @@ func (spc *fakeStatefulPodControl) DeleteStatefulPod(set *apps.StatefulSet, pod
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (spc *fakeStatefulPodControl) UpdateStatefulSetReplicas(set *apps.StatefulSet, replicas int32) error {
+func (spc *fakeStatefulPodControl) UpdateStatefulSetStatus(set *apps.StatefulSet, replicas int32, generation int64) error {
 	defer spc.updateStatusTracker.inc()
 	if spc.updateStatusTracker.errorReady() {
 		defer spc.updateStatusTracker.reset()
 		return spc.updateStatusTracker.err
 	}
 	set.Status.Replicas = replicas
+	set.Status.ObservedGeneration = &generation
 	spc.setsIndexer.Update(set)
 	return nil
 }