diff --git a/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation.go b/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation.go
index 1da47041a21..bab3fd2f4a4 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation.go
@@ -325,9 +325,7 @@ func ValidateDeploymentStatus(status *extensions.DeploymentStatus, fldPath *fiel
 	if status.AvailableReplicas > status.Replicas {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("availableReplicas"), status.AvailableReplicas, msg))
 	}
-	// TODO: ReadyReplicas is introduced in 1.6 and this check breaks the Deployment controller when pre-1.6 clusters get upgraded.
-	// 		 Remove the comparison to zero once we stop supporting upgrades from 1.5.
-	if status.ReadyReplicas > 0 && status.AvailableReplicas > status.ReadyReplicas {
+	if status.AvailableReplicas > status.ReadyReplicas {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("availableReplicas"), status.AvailableReplicas, "cannot be greater than readyReplicas"))
 	}
 	return allErrs
diff --git a/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation_test.go
index 55b03c65cba..2a432da9b4a 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/extensions/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -1335,15 +1335,6 @@ func TestValidateDeploymentStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			observedGeneration: 1,
 			expectedErr:        true,
 		},
-		// TODO: Remove the following test case once we stop supporting upgrades from 1.5.
-		{
-			name:               "don't validate readyReplicas when it's zero",
-			replicas:           3,
-			readyReplicas:      0,
-			availableReplicas:  3,
-			observedGeneration: 1,
-			expectedErr:        false,
-		},
 		{
 			name:               "invalid collisionCount",
 			replicas:           3,