diff --git a/pkg/manager/internal.go b/pkg/manager/internal.go
index a16f354a1b..fdb9d982d9 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/internal.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/internal.go
@@ -518,6 +518,8 @@ func (cm *controllerManager) engageStopProcedure(stopComplete <-chan struct{}) e
 
 		// Stop all the leader election runnables, which includes reconcilers.
 		cm.logger.Info("Stopping and waiting for leader election runnables")
+		// Prevent leader election when shutting down a non-elected manager
+		cm.runnables.LeaderElection.startOnce.Do(func() {})
 		cm.runnables.LeaderElection.StopAndWait(cm.shutdownCtx)
 
 		// Stop the caches before the leader election runnables, this is an important
diff --git a/pkg/manager/manager_test.go b/pkg/manager/manager_test.go
index a88ccca00f..7a07308403 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/manager_test.go
@@ -1227,6 +1227,10 @@ var _ = Describe("manger.Manager", func() {
 					cm.onStoppedLeading = func() {}
 				},
 			)
+
+			It("should not start a new leader election", func() {
+
+			})
 		})
 
 		Context("should start serving metrics", func() {