diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
index 6389d79117a..87cf3a9ba9a 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
@@ -132,6 +132,13 @@ func (ssc *defaultStatefulSetControl) UpdateStatefulSet(set *apps.StatefulSet, p
 		if !isCreated(replicas[i]) {
 			return ssc.podControl.CreateStatefulPod(set, replicas[i])
 		}
+		// If we find a Pod that is currently terminating, we must wait until graceful deletion
+		// completes before we continue to make  progress.
+		if isTerminating(replicas[i]) {
+			glog.V(2).Infof("StatefulSet %s is waiting for Pod %s to Terminate",
+				set.Name, replicas[i].Name)
+			return nil
+		}
 		// If we have a Pod that has been created but is not running and ready we can not make progress.
 		// We must ensure that all for each Pod, when we create it, all of its predecessors, with respect to its
 		// ordinal, are Running and Ready.
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
index 87bcd78ba74..4ec84d541c4 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
@@ -404,6 +404,72 @@ func TestDefaultStatefulSetControlUpdatePodFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDefaultStatefulSetControlBlocksOnTerminating(t *testing.T) {
+	set := newStatefulSet(3)
+	client := fake.NewSimpleClientset(set)
+
+	informerFactory := informers.NewSharedInformerFactory(client, controller.NoResyncPeriodFunc())
+	spc := newFakeStatefulPodControl(informerFactory.Core().V1().Pods(), informerFactory.Apps().V1beta1().StatefulSets())
+	ssc := NewDefaultStatefulSetControl(spc)
+	spc.SetUpdateStatefulPodError(apierrors.NewInternalError(errors.New("API server failed")), 0)
+
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(stop)
+	informerFactory.Start(stop)
+	cache.WaitForCacheSync(
+		stop,
+		informerFactory.Apps().V1beta1().StatefulSets().Informer().HasSynced,
+		informerFactory.Core().V1().Pods().Informer().HasSynced,
+	)
+
+	if err := scaleUpStatefulSetControl(set, ssc, spc); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	var err error
+	set, err = spc.setsLister.StatefulSets(set.Namespace).Get(set.Name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error getting updated StatefulSet: %v", err)
+	}
+	if set.Status.Replicas != 3 {
+		t.Fatal("Failed to scale StatefulSet to 3 replicas")
+	}
+	// scale the set and add a terminated pod
+	*set.Spec.Replicas = 4
+	pods, err := spc.addTerminatingPod(set, 2)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := ssc.UpdateStatefulSet(set, pods); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	pods, err = spc.podsLister.List(labels.Everything())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error listing pods: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(pods) != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected 3 pods, got %d", len(pods))
+	}
+	sort.Sort(ascendingOrdinal(pods))
+	spc.DeleteStatefulPod(set, pods[2])
+	pods, err = spc.podsLister.List(labels.Everything())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error listing pods: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(pods) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected 3 pods, got %d", len(pods))
+	}
+	if err := scaleUpStatefulSetControl(set, ssc, spc); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	set, err = spc.setsLister.StatefulSets(set.Namespace).Get(set.Name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error getting updated StatefulSet: %v", err)
+	}
+	if set.Status.Replicas != 4 {
+		t.Fatal("Failed to scale StatefulSet to 3 replicas")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDefaultStatefulSetControlUpdateSetStatusFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	set := newStatefulSet(3)
 	client := fake.NewSimpleClientset(set)
@@ -691,7 +757,7 @@ func (spc *fakeStatefulPodControl) setPodInitStatus(set *apps.StatefulSet, ordin
 	return spc.podsLister.Pods(set.Namespace).List(selector)
 }
 
-func (spc *fakeStatefulPodControl) addTerminatedPod(set *apps.StatefulSet, ordinal int) ([]*v1.Pod, error) {
+func (spc *fakeStatefulPodControl) addTerminatingPod(set *apps.StatefulSet, ordinal int) ([]*v1.Pod, error) {
 	pod := newStatefulSetPod(set, ordinal)
 	pod.Status.Phase = v1.PodRunning
 	deleted := metav1.NewTime(time.Now())
@@ -907,7 +973,7 @@ func scaleDownStatefulSetControl(set *apps.StatefulSet, ssc StatefulSetControlIn
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			if pods, err = spc.addTerminatedPod(set, ordinal); err != nil {
+			if pods, err = spc.addTerminatingPod(set, ordinal); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 			if err = ssc.UpdateStatefulSet(set, pods); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_test.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_test.go
index 71b24b9171c..1f73b051268 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_test.go
@@ -91,11 +91,11 @@ func TestStatefulSetControllerRespectsTermination(t *testing.T) {
 	if set.Status.Replicas != 3 {
 		t.Error("Falied to scale statefulset to 3 replicas")
 	}
-	pods, err := spc.addTerminatedPod(set, 3)
+	pods, err := spc.addTerminatingPod(set, 3)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
-	pods, err = spc.addTerminatedPod(set, 4)
+	pods, err = spc.addTerminatingPod(set, 4)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ func scaleDownStatefulSetController(set *apps.StatefulSet, ssc *StatefulSetContr
 	spc.setsIndexer.Add(set)
 	ssc.enqueueStatefulSet(set)
 	fakeWorker(ssc)
-	pods, err = spc.addTerminatedPod(set, ord)
+	pods, err = spc.addTerminatingPod(set, ord)
 	pod = getPodAtOrdinal(pods, ord)
 	ssc.updatePod(&prev, pod)
 	fakeWorker(ssc)
@@ -679,7 +679,7 @@ func scaleDownStatefulSetController(set *apps.StatefulSet, ssc *StatefulSetContr
 	for set.Status.Replicas > *set.Spec.Replicas {
 		pods, err = spc.podsLister.Pods(set.Namespace).List(selector)
 		ord := len(pods)
-		pods, err = spc.addTerminatedPod(set, ord)
+		pods, err = spc.addTerminatingPod(set, ord)
 		pod = getPodAtOrdinal(pods, ord)
 		ssc.updatePod(&prev, pod)
 		fakeWorker(ssc)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go
index 1f0c3cba43c..12bc47827a6 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_utils.go
@@ -217,14 +217,14 @@ func isFailed(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
 	return pod.Status.Phase == v1.PodFailed
 }
 
-// isTerminated returns true if pod's deletion Timestamp has been set
-func isTerminated(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
+// isTerminating returns true if pod's DeletionTimestamp has been set
+func isTerminating(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
 	return pod.DeletionTimestamp != nil
 }
 
 // isHealthy returns true if pod is running and ready and has not been terminated
 func isHealthy(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
-	return isRunningAndReady(pod) && !isTerminated(pod)
+	return isRunningAndReady(pod) && !isTerminating(pod)
 }
 
 // newControllerRef returns an ControllerRef pointing to a given StatefulSet.