diff --git a/pkg/api/pod/util.go b/pkg/api/pod/util.go
index 59f1a198e75..1b507a6bb46 100644
--- a/pkg/api/pod/util.go
+++ b/pkg/api/pod/util.go
@@ -551,6 +551,20 @@ func dropDisabledFields(
 		})
 	}
 
+	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.ProbeTerminationGracePeriod) && !probeGracePeriodInUse(oldPodSpec) {
+		// Set pod-level terminationGracePeriodSeconds to nil if the feature is disabled and it is not used
+		VisitContainers(podSpec, AllContainers, func(c *api.Container, containerType ContainerType) bool {
+			if c.LivenessProbe != nil {
+				c.LivenessProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = nil
+			}
+			if c.StartupProbe != nil {
+				c.StartupProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = nil
+			}
+			// cannot be set for readiness probes
+			return true
+		})
+	}
+
 	dropDisabledFSGroupFields(podSpec, oldPodSpec)
 
 	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.PodOverhead) && !overheadInUse(oldPodSpec) {
@@ -811,6 +825,27 @@ func subpathExprInUse(podSpec *api.PodSpec) bool {
 	return inUse
 }
 
+// probeGracePeriodInUse returns true if the pod spec is non-nil and has a probe that makes use
+// of the probe-level terminationGracePeriodSeconds feature
+func probeGracePeriodInUse(podSpec *api.PodSpec) bool {
+	if podSpec == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	var inUse bool
+	VisitContainers(podSpec, AllContainers, func(c *api.Container, containerType ContainerType) bool {
+		// cannot be set for readiness probes
+		if (c.LivenessProbe != nil && c.LivenessProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds != nil) ||
+		   (c.StartupProbe != nil && c.StartupProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds != nil) {
+			inUse = true
+			return false
+		}
+		return true
+	})
+
+	return inUse
+}
+
 // csiInUse returns true if any pod's spec include inline CSI volumes.
 func csiInUse(podSpec *api.PodSpec) bool {
 	if podSpec == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/api/pod/util_test.go b/pkg/api/pod/util_test.go
index 5b83e801bf2..471e3a6c92c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/pod/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/pod/util_test.go
@@ -1140,6 +1140,103 @@ func TestDropSubPathExpr(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDropProbeGracePeriod(t *testing.T) {
+	gracePeriod := int64(10)
+	probe := api.Probe{TerminationGracePeriodSeconds: &gracePeriod}
+	podWithProbeGracePeriod := func() *api.Pod {
+		return &api.Pod{
+			Spec: api.PodSpec{
+				RestartPolicy:  api.RestartPolicyNever,
+				Containers:     []api.Container{{Name: "container1", Image: "testimage", LivenessProbe: &probe, StartupProbe: &probe}},
+			},
+		}
+	}
+	podWithoutProbeGracePeriod := func() *api.Pod {
+		p := podWithProbeGracePeriod()
+		p.Spec.Containers[0].LivenessProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = nil
+		p.Spec.Containers[0].StartupProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = nil
+		return p
+	}
+
+	podInfo := []struct {
+		description    string
+		hasGracePeriod bool
+		pod            func() *api.Pod
+	}{
+		{
+			description:    "has probe-level terminationGracePeriod",
+			hasGracePeriod: true,
+			pod:            podWithProbeGracePeriod,
+		},
+		{
+			description:    "does not have probe-level terminationGracePeriod",
+			hasGracePeriod: false,
+			pod:            podWithoutProbeGracePeriod,
+		},
+		{
+			description:    "only has liveness probe-level terminationGracePeriod",
+			hasGracePeriod: true,
+			pod:            func() *api.Pod {
+						p := podWithProbeGracePeriod()
+						p.Spec.Containers[0].StartupProbe.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = nil
+						return p
+					},
+		},
+		{
+			description:    "is nil",
+			hasGracePeriod: false,
+			pod:            func() *api.Pod { return nil },
+		},
+	}
+
+	enabled := true
+	for _, oldPodInfo := range podInfo {
+		for _, newPodInfo := range podInfo {
+			oldPodHasGracePeriod, oldPod := oldPodInfo.hasGracePeriod, oldPodInfo.pod()
+			newPodHasGracePeriod, newPod := newPodInfo.hasGracePeriod, newPodInfo.pod()
+			if newPod == nil {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("feature enabled=%v, old pod %v, new pod %v", enabled, oldPodInfo.description, newPodInfo.description), func(t *testing.T) {
+
+				var oldPodSpec *api.PodSpec
+				if oldPod != nil {
+					oldPodSpec = &oldPod.Spec
+				}
+				dropDisabledFields(&newPod.Spec, nil, oldPodSpec, nil)
+
+				// old pod should never be changed
+				if !reflect.DeepEqual(oldPod, oldPodInfo.pod()) {
+					t.Errorf("old pod changed: %v", diff.ObjectReflectDiff(oldPod, oldPodInfo.pod()))
+				}
+
+				switch {
+				case enabled || oldPodHasGracePeriod:
+					// new pod should not be changed if the feature is enabled, or if the old pod had subpaths
+					if !reflect.DeepEqual(newPod, newPodInfo.pod()) {
+						t.Errorf("new pod changed: %v", diff.ObjectReflectDiff(newPod, newPodInfo.pod()))
+					}
+				case newPodHasGracePeriod:
+					// new pod should be changed
+					if reflect.DeepEqual(newPod, newPodInfo.pod()) {
+						t.Errorf("new pod was not changed")
+					}
+					// new pod should not have subpaths
+					if !reflect.DeepEqual(newPod, podWithoutProbeGracePeriod()) {
+						t.Errorf("new pod had probe-level terminationGracePeriod: %v", diff.ObjectReflectDiff(newPod, podWithoutProbeGracePeriod()))
+					}
+				default:
+					// new pod should not need to be changed
+					if !reflect.DeepEqual(newPod, newPodInfo.pod()) {
+						t.Errorf("new pod changed: %v", diff.ObjectReflectDiff(newPod, newPodInfo.pod()))
+					}
+				}
+			})
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // helper creates a podStatus with list of PodIPs
 func makePodStatus(podIPs []api.PodIP) *api.PodStatus {
 	return &api.PodStatus{
diff --git a/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index c3062d3ae22..8d4d5b0e6af 100644
--- a/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -695,6 +695,12 @@ const (
 	// Enables topology aware hints for EndpointSlices
 	TopologyAwareHints featuregate.Feature = "TopologyAwareHints"
 
+	// owner: @ehashman
+	// alpha: v1.21
+	//
+	// Allows user to override pod-level terminationGracePeriod for probes
+	ProbeTerminationGracePeriod featuregate.Feature = "ProbeTerminationGracePeriod"
+
 	// owner: @ahg-g
 	// alpha: v1.21
 	//
@@ -849,6 +855,7 @@ var defaultKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 	MixedProtocolLBService:                         {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	VolumeCapacityPriority:                         {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	PreferNominatedNode:                            {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
+	ProbeTerminationGracePeriod:                    {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	RunAsGroup:                                     {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.GA, LockToDefault: true}, // remove in 1.22
 	PodDeletionCost:                                {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	TopologyAwareHints:                             {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},