diff --git a/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction.go b/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction.go
index f144874f00..0682b06ae8 100644
--- a/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction.go
+++ b/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction.go
@@ -843,6 +843,11 @@ func (s *transactionSyncer) isZoneChange() bool {
 
 	existingZones := sets.NewString()
 	for _, ref := range negCR.Status.NetworkEndpointGroups {
+		// For backward compatibility, an empty state is considered active.
+		if ref.State != "" && ref.State != negv1beta1.ActiveState {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		id, err := cloud.ParseResourceURL(ref.SelfLink)
 		if err != nil {
 			s.logger.Error(err, "unable to parse selflink", "selfLink", ref.SelfLink)
diff --git a/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction_test.go b/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction_test.go
index 9cd605eb35..3aa3f64f55 100644
--- a/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction_test.go
+++ b/pkg/neg/syncers/transaction_test.go
@@ -2728,6 +2728,7 @@ func TestIsZoneChange(t *testing.T) {
 		zoneDeleted                    bool
 		zoneAdded                      bool
 		nodeWithNoProviderIDAdded      bool
+		negCRStateInactive             bool
 		nodeWithInvalidProviderIDAdded bool
 		expectedResult                 bool
 	}{
@@ -2761,6 +2762,11 @@ func TestIsZoneChange(t *testing.T) {
 			desc:           "no zone change occurred",
 			expectedResult: false,
 		},
+		{
+			desc:               "neg cr state is inactive",
+			negCRStateInactive: true,
+			expectedResult:     true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
@@ -2793,6 +2799,9 @@ func TestIsZoneChange(t *testing.T) {
 			for _, neg := range negRefMap {
 				refs = append(refs, neg)
 			}
+			if tc.negCRStateInactive {
+				refs[0].State = negv1beta1.InactiveState
+			}
 			negCR := createNegCR(syncer.NegName, metav1.Now(), true, true, refs)
 			if err = syncer.svcNegLister.Add(negCR); err != nil {
 				t.Errorf("failed to add neg to store:%s", err)