diff --git a/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/cleanup.go b/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/cleanup.go
index 01c4b23047d6..99a4a60efd71 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/cleanup.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/cleanup.go
@@ -69,9 +69,8 @@ func (c *ResourceCleanup) StartJob(ctx context.Context, clientset kubernetes.Int
 	podSpec := c.jobTemplateSpec()
 	job := &batch.Job{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:            jobName,
-			Namespace:       c.resource.GetNamespace(),
-			OwnerReferences: c.resource.GetOwnerReferences(),
+			Name:      jobName,
+			Namespace: c.resource.GetNamespace(),
 		},
 		Spec: batch.JobSpec{
 			Template: podSpec,