diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/auto_scaling_groups.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/auto_scaling_groups.go
index 36eb4d9a1a..a2a83fc52b 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/auto_scaling_groups.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/auto_scaling_groups.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ type asgCache struct {
 	asgToInstances       map[AwsRef][]AwsInstanceRef
 	instanceToAsg        map[AwsInstanceRef]*asg
 	instanceStatus       map[AwsInstanceRef]*string
+	instanceLifecycle    map[AwsInstanceRef]*string
 	asgInstanceTypeCache *instanceTypeExpirationStore
 	mutex                sync.Mutex
 	awsService           *awsWrapper
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ func newASGCache(awsService *awsWrapper, explicitSpecs []string, autoDiscoverySp
 		asgToInstances:        make(map[AwsRef][]AwsInstanceRef),
 		instanceToAsg:         make(map[AwsInstanceRef]*asg),
 		instanceStatus:        make(map[AwsInstanceRef]*string),
+		instanceLifecycle:     make(map[AwsInstanceRef]*string),
 		asgInstanceTypeCache:  newAsgInstanceTypeCache(awsService),
 		interrupt:             make(chan struct{}),
 		asgAutoDiscoverySpecs: autoDiscoverySpecs,
@@ -239,6 +241,14 @@ func (m *asgCache) InstanceStatus(ref AwsInstanceRef) (*string, error) {
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not find instance %v", ref)
 }
 
+func (m *asgCache) findInstanceLifecycle(ref AwsInstanceRef) (*string, error) {
+	if lifecycle, found := m.instanceLifecycle[ref]; found {
+		return lifecycle, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not find instance %v", ref)
+}
+
 func (m *asgCache) SetAsgSize(asg *asg, size int) error {
 	m.mutex.Lock()
 	defer m.mutex.Unlock()
@@ -292,7 +302,6 @@ func (m *asgCache) DeleteInstances(instances []*AwsInstanceRef) error {
 			for i, instance := range instances {
 				instanceIds[i] = instance.Name
 			}
-
 			return fmt.Errorf("can't delete instances %s as they belong to at least two different ASGs (%s and %s)", strings.Join(instanceIds, ","), commonAsg.Name, asg.Name)
 		}
 	}
@@ -305,6 +314,22 @@ func (m *asgCache) DeleteInstances(instances []*AwsInstanceRef) error {
 				"of deleting instance", instance.Name)
 			m.decreaseAsgSizeByOneNoLock(commonAsg)
 		} else {
+			// check if the instance is already terminating - if it is, don't bother terminating again
+			// as doing so causes unnecessary API calls and can cause the curSize cached value to decrement
+			// unnecessarily.
+			lifecycle, err := m.findInstanceLifecycle(*instance)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			if lifecycle != nil &&
+				*lifecycle == autoscaling.LifecycleStateTerminating ||
+				*lifecycle == autoscaling.LifecycleStateTerminatingWait ||
+				*lifecycle == autoscaling.LifecycleStateTerminatingProceed {
+				klog.V(2).Infof("instance %s is already terminating, will skip instead", instance.Name)
+				continue
+			}
+
 			params := &autoscaling.TerminateInstanceInAutoScalingGroupInput{
 				InstanceId:                     aws.String(instance.Name),
 				ShouldDecrementDesiredCapacity: aws.Bool(true),
@@ -361,6 +386,7 @@ func (m *asgCache) regenerate() error {
 	newInstanceToAsgCache := make(map[AwsInstanceRef]*asg)
 	newAsgToInstancesCache := make(map[AwsRef][]AwsInstanceRef)
 	newInstanceStatusMap := make(map[AwsInstanceRef]*string)
+	newInstanceLifecycleMap := make(map[AwsInstanceRef]*string)
 
 	// Fetch details of all ASGs
 	refreshNames := m.buildAsgNames()
@@ -402,6 +428,7 @@ func (m *asgCache) regenerate() error {
 			newInstanceToAsgCache[ref] = asg
 			newAsgToInstancesCache[asg.AwsRef][i] = ref
 			newInstanceStatusMap[ref] = instance.HealthStatus
+			newInstanceLifecycleMap[ref] = instance.LifecycleState
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -431,6 +458,7 @@ func (m *asgCache) regenerate() error {
 	m.instanceToAsg = newInstanceToAsgCache
 	m.autoscalingOptions = newAutoscalingOptions
 	m.instanceStatus = newInstanceStatusMap
+	m.instanceLifecycle = newInstanceLifecycleMap
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/aws_cloud_provider_test.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/aws_cloud_provider_test.go
index 78a4f46cb8..a0324fcbb1 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/aws_cloud_provider_test.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/aws/aws_cloud_provider_test.go
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ func testNamedDescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput(groupName string, desiredCap int64
 		instances = append(instances, &autoscaling.Instance{
 			InstanceId:       aws.String(id),
 			AvailabilityZone: aws.String("us-east-1a"),
+			LifecycleState:   aws.String(autoscaling.LifecycleStateInService),
 		})
 	}
 	return &autoscaling.DescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput{
@@ -91,6 +92,15 @@ func testNamedDescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput(groupName string, desiredCap int64
 	}
 }
 
+func testSetASGInstanceLifecycle(asg *autoscaling.DescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput, lifecycleState string) *autoscaling.DescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput {
+	for _, asg := range asg.AutoScalingGroups {
+		for _, instance := range asg.Instances {
+			instance.LifecycleState = aws.String(lifecycleState)
+		}
+	}
+	return asg
+}
+
 func testProvider(t *testing.T, m *AwsManager) *awsCloudProvider {
 	resourceLimiter := cloudprovider.NewResourceLimiter(
 		map[string]int64{cloudprovider.ResourceNameCores: 1, cloudprovider.ResourceNameMemory: 10000000},
@@ -440,6 +450,54 @@ func TestDeleteNodes(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, newSize)
 }
 
+func TestDeleteNodesTerminatingInstances(t *testing.T) {
+	a := &autoScalingMock{}
+	provider := testProvider(t, newTestAwsManagerWithAsgs(t, a, nil, []string{"1:5:test-asg"}))
+	asgs := provider.NodeGroups()
+
+	a.On("TerminateInstanceInAutoScalingGroup", &autoscaling.TerminateInstanceInAutoScalingGroupInput{
+		InstanceId:                     aws.String("test-instance-id"),
+		ShouldDecrementDesiredCapacity: aws.Bool(true),
+	}).Return(&autoscaling.TerminateInstanceInAutoScalingGroupOutput{
+		Activity: &autoscaling.Activity{Description: aws.String("Deleted instance")},
+	})
+
+	// Look up the current number of instances...
+	var expectedInstancesCount int64 = 2
+	a.On("DescribeAutoScalingGroupsPages",
+		&autoscaling.DescribeAutoScalingGroupsInput{
+			AutoScalingGroupNames: aws.StringSlice([]string{"test-asg"}),
+			MaxRecords:            aws.Int64(maxRecordsReturnedByAPI),
+		},
+		mock.AnythingOfType("func(*autoscaling.DescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput, bool) bool"),
+	).Run(func(args mock.Arguments) {
+		fn := args.Get(1).(func(*autoscaling.DescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput, bool) bool)
+		fn(testSetASGInstanceLifecycle(testNamedDescribeAutoScalingGroupsOutput("test-asg", expectedInstancesCount, "test-instance-id", "second-test-instance-id"), autoscaling.LifecycleStateTerminatingWait), false)
+		// we expect the instance count to be 1 after the call to DeleteNodes
+		expectedInstancesCount = 1
+	}).Return(nil)
+
+	provider.Refresh()
+
+	initialSize, err := asgs[0].TargetSize()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, initialSize)
+
+	node := &apiv1.Node{
+		Spec: apiv1.NodeSpec{
+			ProviderID: "aws:///us-east-1a/test-instance-id",
+		},
+	}
+	err = asgs[0].DeleteNodes([]*apiv1.Node{node})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	a.AssertNumberOfCalls(t, "TerminateInstanceInAutoScalingGroup", 0) // instances which are terminating don't need to be terminated again
+	a.AssertNumberOfCalls(t, "DescribeAutoScalingGroupsPages", 1)
+
+	newSize, err := asgs[0].TargetSize()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, newSize)
+}
+
 func TestDeleteNodesWithPlaceholder(t *testing.T) {
 	a := &autoScalingMock{}
 	provider := testProvider(t, newTestAwsManagerWithAsgs(t, a, nil, []string{"1:5:test-asg"}))