diff --git a/pkg/controllers/node/health/controller.go b/pkg/controllers/node/health/controller.go
index db4e96f932..acd23a08f0 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/node/health/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/node/health/controller.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/intstr"
 
@@ -120,10 +121,18 @@ func (c *Controller) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, node *corev1.Node) (reconcil
 	if err := c.annotateTerminationGracePeriod(ctx, nodeClaim); err != nil {
 		return reconcile.Result{}, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
 	}
+
+	return c.deleteNodeClaim(ctx, nodeClaim, node, unhealthyNodeCondition)
+}
+
+// deleteNodeClaim removes the NodeClaim from the api-server
+func (c *Controller) deleteNodeClaim(ctx context.Context, nodeClaim *v1.NodeClaim, node *corev1.Node, unhealthyNodeCondition *corev1.NodeCondition) (reconcile.Result, error) {
+	if !nodeClaim.DeletionTimestamp.IsZero() {
+		return reconcile.Result{}, nil
+	}
 	if err := c.kubeClient.Delete(ctx, nodeClaim); err != nil {
 		return reconcile.Result{}, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
 	}
-
 	// The deletion timestamp has successfully been set for the Node, update relevant metrics.
 	log.FromContext(ctx).V(1).Info("deleting unhealthy node")
 	metrics.NodeClaimsDisruptedTotal.Inc(map[string]string{
@@ -155,11 +164,22 @@ func (c *Controller) findUnhealthyConditions(node *corev1.Node) (nc *corev1.Node
 }
 
 func (c *Controller) annotateTerminationGracePeriod(ctx context.Context, nodeClaim *v1.NodeClaim) error {
+	if expirationTimeString, exists := nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations[v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey]; exists {
+		expirationTime, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, expirationTimeString)
+		if err == nil && expirationTime.Before(c.clock.Now()) {
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+
 	stored := nodeClaim.DeepCopy()
-	nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations = lo.Assign(nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations, map[string]string{v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey: c.clock.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)})
+	terminationTime := c.clock.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
+	nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations = lo.Assign(nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations, map[string]string{v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey: terminationTime})
 
-	if err := c.kubeClient.Patch(ctx, nodeClaim, client.MergeFrom(stored)); err != nil {
-		return err
+	if !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(stored, nodeClaim) {
+		if err := c.kubeClient.Patch(ctx, nodeClaim, client.MergeFrom(stored)); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		log.FromContext(ctx).WithValues(v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey, terminationTime).Info("annotated nodeclaim")
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/controllers/node/health/suite_test.go b/pkg/controllers/node/health/suite_test.go
index ea2a368b20..5bfae95547 100644
--- a/pkg/controllers/node/health/suite_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controllers/node/health/suite_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	clock "k8s.io/utils/clock/testing"
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Node Health", func() {
 			Expect(nodeClaim.Annotations).To(HaveKeyWithValue(v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey, fakeClock.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)))
 		})
 		It("should not respect termination grace period if set on the nodepool", func() {
-			nodeClaim.Spec.TerminationGracePeriod = &metav1.Duration{Duration: time.Minute}
+			nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations = lo.Assign(nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations, map[string]string{v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey: fakeClock.Now().Add(120 * time.Minute).Format(time.RFC3339)})
 			node.Status.Conditions = append(node.Status.Conditions, corev1.NodeCondition{
 				Type:   "BadNode",
 				Status: corev1.ConditionFalse,
@@ -186,6 +187,23 @@ var _ = Describe("Node Health", func() {
 			nodeClaim = ExpectExists(ctx, env.Client, nodeClaim)
 			Expect(nodeClaim.Annotations).To(HaveKeyWithValue(v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey, fakeClock.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)))
 		})
+		It("should not update termination grace period if set before the current time", func() {
+			terminationTime := fakeClock.Now().Add(-3 * time.Minute).Format(time.RFC3339)
+			nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations = lo.Assign(nodeClaim.ObjectMeta.Annotations, map[string]string{v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey: terminationTime})
+			node.Status.Conditions = append(node.Status.Conditions, corev1.NodeCondition{
+				Type:   "BadNode",
+				Status: corev1.ConditionFalse,
+				// We expect the last transition for HealthyNode condition to wait 30 minutes
+				LastTransitionTime: metav1.Time{Time: time.Now()},
+			})
+			fakeClock.Step(60 * time.Minute)
+			ExpectApplied(ctx, env.Client, nodePool, nodeClaim, node)
+			// Determine to delete unhealthy nodes
+			ExpectObjectReconciled(ctx, env.Client, healthController, node)
+
+			nodeClaim = ExpectExists(ctx, env.Client, nodeClaim)
+			Expect(nodeClaim.Annotations).To(HaveKeyWithValue(v1.NodeClaimTerminationTimestampAnnotationKey, terminationTime))
+		})
 		It("should return the requeue interval for the condition closest to its terminationDuration", func() {
 			cloudProvider.RepairPolicy = []cloudprovider.RepairPolicy{
 				{