diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/core/scale_down.go b/cluster-autoscaler/core/scale_down.go
index f54bb35c93..1e0d9ac271 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/core/scale_down.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/core/scale_down.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func (sd *ScaleDown) CleanUpUnneededNodes() {
 // managed by CA.
 func (sd *ScaleDown) UpdateUnneededNodes(
 	nodes []*apiv1.Node,
-	managedNodes []*apiv1.Node,
+	nodesToCheck []*apiv1.Node,
 	pods []*apiv1.Pod,
 	timestamp time.Time,
 	pdbs []*policyv1.PodDisruptionBudget) errors.AutoscalerError {
@@ -154,24 +154,24 @@ func (sd *ScaleDown) UpdateUnneededNodes(
 	utilizationMap := make(map[string]float64)
 
 	// Filter out nodes that were recently checked
-	nodesToCheck := make([]*apiv1.Node, 0)
-	for _, node := range managedNodes {
+	filteredNodesToCheck := make([]*apiv1.Node, 0)
+	for _, node := range nodesToCheck {
 		if unremovableTimestamp, found := sd.unremovableNodes[node.Name]; found {
 			if unremovableTimestamp.After(timestamp) {
 				continue
 			}
 			delete(sd.unremovableNodes, node.Name)
 		}
-		nodesToCheck = append(nodesToCheck, node)
+		filteredNodesToCheck = append(filteredNodesToCheck, node)
 	}
-	skipped := len(managedNodes) - len(nodesToCheck)
+	skipped := len(nodesToCheck) - len(filteredNodesToCheck)
 	if skipped > 0 {
 		glog.V(1).Infof("Scale-down calculation: ignoring %v nodes, that were unremovable in the last %v", skipped, UnremovableNodeRecheckTimeout)
 	}
 
 	// Phase1 - look at the nodes utilization. Calculate the utilization
 	// only for the managed nodes.
-	for _, node := range nodesToCheck {
+	for _, node := range filteredNodesToCheck {
 
 		// Skip nodes marked to be deleted, if they were marked recently.
 		// Old-time marked nodes are again eligible for deletion - something went wrong with them
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go b/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go
index 379212d258..8512e2d4ec 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go
@@ -266,9 +266,9 @@ func (a *StaticAutoscaler) RunOnce(currentTime time.Time) errors.AutoscalerError
 		glog.V(4).Infof("Calculating unneeded nodes")
 
 		scaleDown.CleanUp(time.Now())
-		managedNodes := getManagedNodes(autoscalingContext, allNodes)
+		potentiallyUnneeded := getPotentiallyUnneededNodes(autoscalingContext, allNodes)
 
-		typedErr := scaleDown.UpdateUnneededNodes(allNodes, managedNodes, allScheduled, time.Now(), pdbs)
+		typedErr := scaleDown.UpdateUnneededNodes(allNodes, potentiallyUnneeded, allScheduled, time.Now(), pdbs)
 		if typedErr != nil {
 			glog.Errorf("Failed to scale down: %v", typedErr)
 			return typedErr
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils.go b/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils.go
index cffcd00bc5..e2d2fc3043 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils.go
@@ -359,8 +359,10 @@ func fixNodeGroupSize(context *AutoscalingContext, currentTime time.Time) (bool,
 	return fixed, nil
 }
 
-// getManagedNodes returns the nodes managed by the cluster autoscaler.
-func getManagedNodes(context *AutoscalingContext, nodes []*apiv1.Node) []*apiv1.Node {
+// getPotentiallyUnneededNodes returns nodes that are:
+// - managed by the cluster autoscaler
+// - in groups with size > min size
+func getPotentiallyUnneededNodes(context *AutoscalingContext, nodes []*apiv1.Node) []*apiv1.Node {
 	result := make([]*apiv1.Node, 0, len(nodes))
 	for _, node := range nodes {
 		nodeGroup, err := context.CloudProvider.NodeGroupForNode(node)
@@ -372,6 +374,15 @@ func getManagedNodes(context *AutoscalingContext, nodes []*apiv1.Node) []*apiv1.
 			glog.V(4).Infof("Skipping %s - no node group config", node.Name)
 			continue
 		}
+		size, err := nodeGroup.TargetSize()
+		if err != nil {
+			glog.Errorf("Error while checking node group size %s: %v", nodeGroup.Id(), err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if size <= nodeGroup.MinSize() {
+			glog.V(1).Infof("Skipping %s - node group min size reached", node.Name)
+			continue
+		}
 		result = append(result, node)
 	}
 	return result
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils_test.go b/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils_test.go
index 7935782ebd..81084e2104 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils_test.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/core/utils_test.go
@@ -256,3 +256,26 @@ func TestRemoveFixNodeTargetSize(t *testing.T) {
 	change := getStringFromChan(sizeChanges)
 	assert.Equal(t, "ng1/-2", change)
 }
+
+func TestGetPotentiallyUnneededNodes(t *testing.T) {
+	ng1_1 := BuildTestNode("ng1-1", 1000, 1000)
+	ng1_2 := BuildTestNode("ng1-2", 1000, 1000)
+	ng2_1 := BuildTestNode("ng2-1", 1000, 1000)
+	noNg := BuildTestNode("no-ng", 1000, 1000)
+	provider := testprovider.NewTestCloudProvider(nil, nil)
+	provider.AddNodeGroup("ng1", 1, 10, 2)
+	provider.AddNodeGroup("ng2", 1, 10, 1)
+	provider.AddNode("ng1", ng1_1)
+	provider.AddNode("ng1", ng1_2)
+	provider.AddNode("ng2", ng2_1)
+
+	context := &AutoscalingContext{
+		CloudProvider: provider,
+	}
+
+	result := getPotentiallyUnneededNodes(context, []*apiv1.Node{ng1_1, ng1_2, ng2_1, noNg})
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(result))
+	ok1 := result[0].Name == "ng1-1" && result[1].Name == "ng1-2"
+	ok2 := result[1].Name == "ng1-1" && result[0].Name == "ng1-2"
+	assert.True(t, ok1 || ok2)
+}