diff --git a/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller.go b/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller.go
index 9ad83851063..00f20d0e0be 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller.go
@@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ func (c *Controller) syncService(key string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 			c.triggerTimeTracker.DeleteService(namespace, name)
+			// The service has been deleted, return nil so that it won't be retried.
+			return nil
 		}
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller_test.go
index e8047b625a3..7db25d847bd 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/endpointslice/endpointslice_controller_test.go
@@ -140,9 +140,8 @@ func TestSyncServiceMissing(t *testing.T) {
 
 	err := esController.syncService(fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", namespace, missingServiceName))
 
-	// Since the service doesn't exist, we should get a not found error
-	assert.NotNil(t, err, "Expected no error syncing service")
-	assert.Equal(t, err.Error(), "service \"notthere\" not found")
+	// nil should be returned when the service doesn't exist
+	assert.Nil(t, err, "Expected no error syncing service")
 
 	// That should mean no client actions were performed
 	assert.Len(t, client.Actions(), 0)