diff --git a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go
index 11fc71eb598..96cbcd3b6d2 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go
@@ -934,6 +934,9 @@ func (dsc *DaemonSetsController) podsShouldBeOnNode(
 	case !shouldContinueRunning && exists:
 		// If daemon pod isn't supposed to run on node, but it is, delete all daemon pods on node.
 		for _, pod := range daemonPods {
+			if pod.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
+				continue
+			}
 			podsToDelete = append(podsToDelete, pod.Name)
 		}
 	}