diff --git a/pkg/controller/resourceclaim/controller.go b/pkg/controller/resourceclaim/controller.go
index 3e06237ce48..4dae8aef38f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/resourceclaim/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/resourceclaim/controller.go
@@ -456,6 +456,28 @@ func (ec *Controller) syncClaim(ctx context.Context, namespace, name string) err
 		// TODO (#113700): patch
 		claim := claim.DeepCopy()
 		claim.Status.ReservedFor = valid
+
+		// When a ResourceClaim uses delayed allocation, then it makes sense to
+		// deallocate the claim as soon as the last consumer stops using
+		// it. This ensures that the claim can be allocated again as needed by
+		// some future consumer instead of trying to schedule that consumer
+		// onto the node that was chosen for the previous consumer. It also
+		// releases the underlying resources for use by other claims.
+		//
+		// This has to be triggered by the transition from "was being used" to
+		// "is not used anymore" because a DRA driver is not required to set
+		// `status.reservedFor` together with `status.allocation`, i.e. a claim
+		// that is "currently unused" should not get deallocated.
+		//
+		// This does not matter for claims that were created for a pod. For
+		// those, the resource claim controller will trigger deletion when the
+		// pod is done. However, it doesn't hurt to also trigger deallocation
+		// for such claims and not checking for them keeps this code simpler.
+		if len(valid) == 0 &&
+			claim.Spec.AllocationMode == resourcev1alpha2.AllocationModeWaitForFirstConsumer {
+			claim.Status.DeallocationRequested = true
+		}
+
 		_, err := ec.kubeClient.ResourceV1alpha2().ResourceClaims(claim.Namespace).UpdateStatus(ctx, claim, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/test/e2e/dra/deploy.go b/test/e2e/dra/deploy.go
index a7583462d67..6d762b13c28 100644
--- a/test/e2e/dra/deploy.go
+++ b/test/e2e/dra/deploy.go
@@ -214,11 +214,11 @@ func (d *Driver) SetUp(nodes *Nodes, resources app.Resources) {
 		plugin, err := app.StartPlugin(logger, "/cdi", d.Name, nodename,
 			app.FileOperations{
 				Create: func(name string, content []byte) error {
-					ginkgo.By(fmt.Sprintf("creating CDI file %s on node %s:\n%s", name, nodename, string(content)))
+					klog.Background().Info("creating CDI file", "node", nodename, "filename", name, "content", string(content))
 					return d.createFile(&pod, name, content)
 				},
 				Remove: func(name string) error {
-					ginkgo.By(fmt.Sprintf("deleting CDI file %s on node %s", name, nodename))
+					klog.Background().Info("deleting CDI file", "node", nodename, "filename", name)
 					return d.removeFile(&pod, name)
 				},
 			},
diff --git a/test/e2e/dra/dra.go b/test/e2e/dra/dra.go
index 7dca393067e..2147caaf68e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/dra/dra.go
+++ b/test/e2e/dra/dra.go
@@ -254,6 +254,27 @@ var _ = ginkgo.Describe("[sig-node] DRA [Feature:DynamicResourceAllocation]", fu
 		ginkgo.Context("with immediate allocation", func() {
 			claimTests(resourcev1alpha2.AllocationModeImmediate)
 		})
+
+		ginkgo.It("must deallocate after use when using delayed allocation", func(ctx context.Context) {
+			parameters := b.parameters()
+			pod := b.podExternal()
+			claim := b.externalClaim(resourcev1alpha2.AllocationModeWaitForFirstConsumer)
+			b.create(ctx, parameters, claim, pod)
+
+			gomega.Eventually(ctx, func(ctx context.Context) (*resourcev1alpha2.ResourceClaim, error) {
+				return b.f.ClientSet.ResourceV1alpha2().ResourceClaims(b.f.Namespace.Name).Get(ctx, claim.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
+			}).WithTimeout(f.Timeouts.PodDelete).ShouldNot(gomega.HaveField("Status.Allocation", (*resourcev1alpha2.AllocationResult)(nil)))
+
+			b.testPod(ctx, f.ClientSet, pod)
+
+			ginkgo.By(fmt.Sprintf("deleting pod %s", klog.KObj(pod)))
+			framework.ExpectNoError(b.f.ClientSet.CoreV1().Pods(b.f.Namespace.Name).Delete(ctx, pod.Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{}))
+
+			ginkgo.By("waiting for claim to get deallocated")
+			gomega.Eventually(ctx, func(ctx context.Context) (*resourcev1alpha2.ResourceClaim, error) {
+				return b.f.ClientSet.ResourceV1alpha2().ResourceClaims(b.f.Namespace.Name).Get(ctx, claim.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
+			}).WithTimeout(f.Timeouts.PodDelete).Should(gomega.HaveField("Status.Allocation", (*resourcev1alpha2.AllocationResult)(nil)))
+		})
 	})
 
 	ginkgo.Context("multiple nodes", func() {