diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go
index 17edd3b81..a36403137 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/cloudprovider"
 	arkv1client "github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/generated/clientset/versioned/typed/ark/v1"
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/util/kube"
+	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/util/stringslice"
 )
 
 type backupSyncController struct {
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@ func (c *backupSyncController) Run(ctx context.Context, workers int) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+const gcFinalizer = "gc.ark.heptio.com"
+
 func (c *backupSyncController) run() {
 	c.logger.Info("Syncing backups from object storage")
 	backups, err := c.backupService.GetAllBackups(c.bucket)
@@ -81,6 +84,10 @@ func (c *backupSyncController) run() {
 		logContext := c.logger.WithField("backup", kube.NamespaceAndName(cloudBackup))
 		logContext.Info("Syncing backup")
 
+		// If we're syncing backups made by pre-0.8.0 versions, the server removes all finalizers
+		// faster than the sync finishes. Just process them as we find them.
+		cloudBackup.Finalizers = stringslice.Except(cloudBackup.Finalizers, gcFinalizer)
+
 		cloudBackup.ResourceVersion = ""
 		if _, err := c.client.Backups(cloudBackup.Namespace).Create(cloudBackup); err != nil && !kuberrs.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
 			logContext.WithError(errors.WithStack(err)).Error("Error syncing backup from object storage")
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go
index 7585d6053..f1b5dc6be 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/apis/ark/v1"
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/generated/clientset/versioned/fake"
+	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/util/stringslice"
 	arktest "github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/util/test"
 )
 
@@ -51,6 +52,18 @@ func TestBackupSyncControllerRun(t *testing.T) {
 				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-2").WithName("backup-3").Backup,
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "Finalizer gets removed on sync",
+			cloudBackups: []*v1.Backup{
+				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithFinalizers(gcFinalizer).Backup,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "Only target finalizer is removed",
+			cloudBackups: []*v1.Backup{
+				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithFinalizers(gcFinalizer, "blah").Backup,
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
@@ -77,6 +90,8 @@ func TestBackupSyncControllerRun(t *testing.T) {
 
 			// we only expect creates for items within the target bucket
 			for _, cloudBackup := range test.cloudBackups {
+				// Verify that the run function stripped the GC finalizer
+				assert.False(t, stringslice.Has(cloudBackup.Finalizers, gcFinalizer))
 				action := core.NewCreateAction(
 					v1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource("backups"),
 					cloudBackup.Namespace,
diff --git a/pkg/util/test/test_backup.go b/pkg/util/test/test_backup.go
index bd870fd29..4dc52409b 100644
--- a/pkg/util/test/test_backup.go
+++ b/pkg/util/test/test_backup.go
@@ -124,3 +124,9 @@ func (b *TestBackup) WithResourceVersion(version string) *TestBackup {
 	b.ResourceVersion = version
 	return b
 }
+
+func (b *TestBackup) WithFinalizers(finalizers ...string) *TestBackup {
+	b.ObjectMeta.Finalizers = append(b.ObjectMeta.Finalizers, finalizers...)
+
+	return b
+}