diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e85a3f8bb4..be776d2489 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 - Fix Helm charts being ignored by policy packs. (https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/pull/2133)
 - Fixes to allow import of helm release (https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/pull/2136)
+- Keep managed-by label in SSA mode if already present (https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/pull/2138)
 
 ## 3.20.3 (August 9, 2022)
 
diff --git a/provider/pkg/provider/provider.go b/provider/pkg/provider/provider.go
index db08a79e83..35ce2fb0d1 100644
--- a/provider/pkg/provider/provider.go
+++ b/provider/pkg/provider/provider.go
@@ -1308,8 +1308,9 @@ func (k *kubeProvider) Check(ctx context.Context, req *pulumirpc.CheckRequest) (
 	} else {
 		metadata.AssignNameIfAutonamable(newInputs, news, urn)
 
-		if !k.serverSideApplyMode {
-			// Set a "managed-by: pulumi" label on all created k8s resources.
+		// Set a "managed-by: pulumi" label on resources created with Client-Side Apply. To avoid churn on previously
+		// created resources, keep the label in SSA mode if it's already present on the resource.
+		if !k.serverSideApplyMode || metadata.HasManagedByLabel(oldInputs) {
 			_, err = metadata.TrySetManagedByLabel(newInputs)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, pkgerrors.Wrapf(err,