diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch/patch.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch/patch.go
index c55894e5023..600f3befd2e 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch/patch.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch/patch.go
@@ -1321,9 +1321,7 @@ func mergeMap(original, patch map[string]interface{}, schema LookupPatchMeta, me
 		// Preserving the null value is useful when we want to send an explicit
 		// delete to the API server.
 		if patchV == nil {
-			if _, ok := original[k]; ok {
-				delete(original, k)
-			}
+			delete(original, k)
 			if mergeOptions.IgnoreUnmatchedNulls {
 				continue
 			}