diff --git a/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy.go b/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy.go
index 1de03e459da..71cd60c0598 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy.go
@@ -379,6 +379,7 @@ func getStatusValidationOptions(newJob, oldJob *batch.Job) batchvalidation.JobSt
 		isUncountedTerminatedPodsChanged := !apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldJob.Status.UncountedTerminatedPods, newJob.Status.UncountedTerminatedPods)
 		isReadyChanged := !ptr.Equal(oldJob.Status.Ready, newJob.Status.Ready)
 		isTerminatingChanged := !ptr.Equal(oldJob.Status.Terminating, newJob.Status.Terminating)
+		isSuspendedWithZeroCompletions := ptr.Equal(newJob.Spec.Suspend, ptr.To(true)) && ptr.Equal(newJob.Spec.Completions, ptr.To[int32](0))
 
 		return batchvalidation.JobStatusValidationOptions{
 			// We allow to decrease the counter for succeeded pods for jobs which
@@ -394,7 +395,7 @@ func getStatusValidationOptions(newJob, oldJob *batch.Job) batchvalidation.JobSt
 			RejectFailedJobWithoutFailureTarget:          isJobFailedChanged || isFailedIndexesChanged,
 			RejectCompleteJobWithoutSuccessCriteriaMet:   isJobCompleteChanged || isJobSuccessCriteriaMetChanged,
 			RejectFinishedJobWithActivePods:              isJobFinishedChanged || isActiveChanged,
-			RejectFinishedJobWithoutStartTime:            isJobFinishedChanged || isStartTimeChanged,
+			RejectFinishedJobWithoutStartTime:            (isJobFinishedChanged || isStartTimeChanged) && !isSuspendedWithZeroCompletions,
 			RejectFinishedJobWithUncountedTerminatedPods: isJobFinishedChanged || isUncountedTerminatedPodsChanged,
 			RejectStartTimeUpdateForUnsuspendedJob:       isStartTimeChanged,
 			RejectCompletionTimeBeforeStartTime:          isStartTimeChanged || isCompletionTimeChanged,
diff --git a/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy_test.go b/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy_test.go
index 18489fa4aeb..227f2ebf256 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy_test.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/batch/job/strategy_test.go
@@ -3561,6 +3561,36 @@ func TestStatusStrategy_ValidateUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				{Type: field.ErrorTypeInvalid, Field: "status.ready"},
 			},
 		},
+		"valid transition to Complete for suspended Job with completions=0; without startTime": {
+			enableJobManagedBy: true,
+			job: &batch.Job{
+				ObjectMeta: validObjectMeta,
+				Spec: batch.JobSpec{
+					Completions: ptr.To[int32](0),
+					Suspend:     ptr.To(true),
+				},
+			},
+			newJob: &batch.Job{
+				ObjectMeta: validObjectMeta,
+				Spec: batch.JobSpec{
+					Completions: ptr.To[int32](0),
+					Suspend:     ptr.To(true),
+				},
+				Status: batch.JobStatus{
+					CompletionTime: &now,
+					Conditions: []batch.JobCondition{
+						{
+							Type:   batch.JobSuccessCriteriaMet,
+							Status: api.ConditionTrue,
+						},
+						{
+							Type:   batch.JobComplete,
+							Status: api.ConditionTrue,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 	for name, tc := range cases {
 		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/test/integration/job/job_test.go b/test/integration/job/job_test.go
index e56415db62b..fe1711eb7d0 100644
--- a/test/integration/job/job_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/job/job_test.go
@@ -4062,6 +4062,29 @@ func TestSuspendJob(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSuspendJobWithZeroCompletions verifies the suspended Job with
+// completions=0 is marked as Complete.
+func TestSuspendJobWithZeroCompletions(t *testing.T) {
+	closeFn, restConfig, clientSet, ns := setup(t, "suspended-with-zero-completions")
+	t.Cleanup(closeFn)
+	ctx, cancel := startJobControllerAndWaitForCaches(t, restConfig)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		cancel()
+	})
+	jobObj, err := createJobWithDefaults(ctx, clientSet, ns.Name, &batchv1.Job{
+		Spec: batchv1.JobSpec{
+			Completions: ptr.To[int32](0),
+			Suspend:     ptr.To(true),
+		},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create Job: %v", err)
+	}
+	for _, condition := range []batchv1.JobConditionType{batchv1.JobSuccessCriteriaMet, batchv1.JobComplete} {
+		validateJobCondition(ctx, t, clientSet, jobObj, condition)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSuspendJobControllerRestart(t *testing.T) {
 	closeFn, restConfig, clientSet, ns := setup(t, "suspend")
 	t.Cleanup(closeFn)