diff --git a/pkg/apis/deployment/v1alpha/server_group.go b/pkg/apis/deployment/v1alpha/server_group.go
index 894ba0b1e..4ccb7f21b 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/deployment/v1alpha/server_group.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/deployment/v1alpha/server_group.go
@@ -101,6 +101,16 @@ func (g ServerGroup) DefaultTerminationGracePeriod() time.Duration {
 	}
 }
 
+// IsStateless returns true when the groups runs servers without a persistent volume.
+func (g ServerGroup) IsStateless() bool {
+	switch g {
+	case ServerGroupCoordinators, ServerGroupSyncMasters, ServerGroupSyncWorkers:
+		return true
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
 // IsArangod returns true when the groups runs servers of type `arangod`.
 func (g ServerGroup) IsArangod() bool {
 	switch g {
diff --git a/pkg/deployment/resources/pod_cleanup.go b/pkg/deployment/resources/pod_cleanup.go
index a625c0cf8..e004e6f02 100644
--- a/pkg/deployment/resources/pod_cleanup.go
+++ b/pkg/deployment/resources/pod_cleanup.go
@@ -23,11 +23,17 @@
 package resources
 
 import (
+	"time"
+
 	"github.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/pkg/util/k8sutil"
 
 	api "github.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/pkg/apis/deployment/v1alpha"
 )
 
+const (
+	statelessTerminationPeriod = time.Minute // We wait this long for a stateless server to terminate on it's own. Afterwards we kill it.
+)
+
 // CleanupTerminatedPods removes all pods in Terminated state that belong to a member in Created state.
 func (r *Resources) CleanupTerminatedPods() error {
 	log := r.log
@@ -47,20 +53,29 @@ func (r *Resources) CleanupTerminatedPods() error {
 		}
 
 		// Check pod state
-		if !(k8sutil.IsPodSucceeded(&p) || k8sutil.IsPodFailed(&p)) {
+		if !(k8sutil.IsPodSucceeded(&p) || k8sutil.IsPodFailed(&p) || k8sutil.IsPodTerminating(&p)) {
 			continue
 		}
 
 		// Find member status
-		memberStatus, _, found := status.Members.MemberStatusByPodName(p.GetName())
+		memberStatus, group, found := status.Members.MemberStatusByPodName(p.GetName())
 		if !found {
-			log.Debug().Str("pod", p.GetName()).Msg("no memberstatus found for pod")
-			continue
-		}
-
-		// Check member termination condition
-		if !memberStatus.Conditions.IsTrue(api.ConditionTypeTerminated) {
-			continue
+			log.Debug().Str("pod", p.GetName()).Msg("no memberstatus found for pod. Performing cleanup")
+		} else {
+			// Check member termination condition
+			if !memberStatus.Conditions.IsTrue(api.ConditionTypeTerminated) {
+				if !group.IsStateless() {
+					// For statefull members, we have to wait for confirmed termination
+					continue
+				} else {
+					// If a stateless server does not terminate within a reasonable amount or time, we kill it.
+					t := p.GetDeletionTimestamp()
+					if t == nil || t.Add(statelessTerminationPeriod).After(time.Now()) {
+						// Either delete timestamp is not set, or not yet waiting long enough
+						continue
+					}
+				}
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Ok, we can delete the pod
diff --git a/pkg/util/k8sutil/pods.go b/pkg/util/k8sutil/pods.go
index 80f6c4a78..5103da127 100644
--- a/pkg/util/k8sutil/pods.go
+++ b/pkg/util/k8sutil/pods.go
@@ -123,6 +123,12 @@ func IsPodMarkedForDeletion(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
 	return pod.DeletionTimestamp != nil
 }
 
+// IsPodTerminating returns true if the pod has been marked for deletion
+// but is still running.
+func IsPodTerminating(pod *v1.Pod) bool {
+	return IsPodMarkedForDeletion(pod) && pod.Status.Phase == v1.PodRunning
+}
+
 // IsArangoDBImageIDAndVersionPod returns true if the given pod is used for fetching image ID and ArangoDB version of an image
 func IsArangoDBImageIDAndVersionPod(p v1.Pod) bool {
 	role, found := p.GetLabels()[LabelKeyRole]