diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal.go
index 5690a8504cc..c7c0c91a324 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal.go
@@ -654,8 +654,10 @@ func (g *Cloud) ensureInternalInstanceGroupsDeleted(name string) error {
 
 	klog.V(2).Infof("ensureInternalInstanceGroupsDeleted(%v): attempting delete instance group in all %d zones", name, len(zones))
 	for _, z := range zones {
-		if err := g.DeleteInstanceGroup(name, z.Name); err != nil && !isNotFoundOrInUse(err) {
-			return err
+		if !g.AlphaFeatureGate.Enabled(AlphaFeatureNetLBRbs) {
+			if err := g.DeleteInstanceGroup(name, z.Name); err != nil && !isNotFoundOrInUse(err) {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal_test.go
index e0930ebf688..4ab40628576 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_internal_test.go
@@ -553,6 +553,30 @@ func TestEnsureInternalLoadBalancerDeleted(t *testing.T) {
 	assertInternalLbResourcesDeleted(t, gce, svc, vals, true)
 }
 
+func TestSkipInstanceGroupDeletion(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	vals := DefaultTestClusterValues()
+	gce, err := fakeGCECloud(vals)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+
+	svc := fakeLoadbalancerService(string(LBTypeInternal))
+	svc, err = gce.client.CoreV1().Services(svc.Namespace).Create(context.TODO(), svc, metav1.CreateOptions{})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = createInternalLoadBalancer(gce, svc, nil, []string{"test-node-1"}, vals.ClusterName, vals.ClusterID, vals.ZoneName)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	gce.AlphaFeatureGate = NewAlphaFeatureGate([]string{AlphaFeatureNetLBRbs})
+	err = gce.ensureInternalLoadBalancerDeleted(vals.ClusterName, vals.ClusterID, svc)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	igName := makeInstanceGroupName(vals.ClusterID)
+	ig, err := gce.GetInstanceGroup(igName, vals.ZoneName)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, ig, "Instance group should not be deleted when flag 'NetLB_RBS' is present")
+}
+
 func TestEnsureInternalLoadBalancerDeletedTwiceDoesNotError(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()