diff --git a/upup/pkg/kutil/delete_cluster_gce.go b/upup/pkg/kutil/delete_cluster_gce.go
index e93cae2048..8113192c63 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/kutil/delete_cluster_gce.go
+++ b/upup/pkg/kutil/delete_cluster_gce.go
@@ -787,7 +787,6 @@ func (d *clusterDiscoveryGCE) deleteDNSZone(cloud fi.Cloud, r *ResourceTracker)
 	}
 
 	changeset := rrs.StartChangeset()
-
 	for _, record := range records {
 		if record.Type() != "A" {
 			continue
@@ -812,6 +811,10 @@ func (d *clusterDiscoveryGCE) deleteDNSZone(cloud fi.Cloud, r *ResourceTracker)
 		changeset.Remove(record)
 	}
 
+	if changeset.IsEmpty() {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	err = changeset.Apply()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Error deleting cloud dns records: %v", err)