diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
index d3ce799b2ef..86645d07b22 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control.go
@@ -111,6 +111,12 @@ func (ssc *defaultStatefulSetControl) UpdateStatefulSet(set *apps.StatefulSet, p
 		}
 	}
 
+	// If the StatefulSet is being deleted, don't do anything other than updating
+	// status.
+	if set.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	// Examine each replica with respect to its ordinal
 	for i := range replicas {
 		// delete and recreate failed pods
diff --git a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
index 2a74eeea89f..8a8fa67c5ff 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/statefulset/stateful_set_control_test.go
@@ -214,6 +214,69 @@ func TestStatefulSetControlReplacesPods(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestStatefulSetDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
+	set := newStatefulSet(5)
+	client := fake.NewSimpleClientset(set)
+
+	informerFactory := informers.NewSharedInformerFactory(client, controller.NoResyncPeriodFunc())
+	spc := newFakeStatefulPodControl(informerFactory.Core().V1().Pods(), informerFactory.Apps().V1beta1().StatefulSets())
+	ssc := NewDefaultStatefulSetControl(spc)
+
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(stop)
+	informerFactory.Start(stop)
+	cache.WaitForCacheSync(
+		stop,
+		informerFactory.Apps().V1beta1().StatefulSets().Informer().HasSynced,
+		informerFactory.Core().V1().Pods().Informer().HasSynced,
+	)
+
+	// Bring up a StatefulSet.
+	if err := scaleUpStatefulSetControl(set, ssc, spc); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("failed to turn up StatefulSet : %s", err)
+	}
+	var err error
+	set, err = spc.setsLister.StatefulSets(set.Namespace).Get(set.Name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error getting updated StatefulSet: %v", err)
+	}
+	if set.Status.Replicas != 5 {
+		t.Error("failed to scale statefulset to 5 replicas")
+	}
+	selector, err := metav1.LabelSelectorAsSelector(set.Spec.Selector)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	pods, err := spc.podsLister.Pods(set.Namespace).List(selector)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	sort.Sort(ascendingOrdinal(pods))
+
+	// Mark the StatefulSet as being deleted.
+	set.DeletionTimestamp = new(metav1.Time)
+
+	// Delete the first pod.
+	spc.podsIndexer.Delete(pods[0])
+	pods, err = spc.podsLister.Pods(set.Namespace).List(selector)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	// The StatefulSet should update its replica count,
+	// but not try to fix it.
+	if err := ssc.UpdateStatefulSet(set, pods); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("failed to update StatefulSet : %s", err)
+	}
+	set, err = spc.setsLister.StatefulSets(set.Namespace).Get(set.Name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error getting updated StatefulSet: %v", err)
+	}
+	if e, a := int32(4), set.Status.Replicas; e != a {
+		t.Errorf("expected to scale to %d, got %d", e, a)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDefaultStatefulSetControlRecreatesFailedPod(t *testing.T) {
 	client := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
 	informerFactory := informers.NewSharedInformerFactory(client, controller.NoResyncPeriodFunc())