diff --git a/pkg/controller/pod_control.go b/pkg/controller/pod_control.go
index f372ba85601..02874498aab 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/pod_control.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/pod_control.go
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ func (rpc *realPodControl) DeletePod(tc *v1alpha1.TidbCluster, pod *corev1.Pod)
 	ns := tc.GetNamespace()
 	tcName := tc.GetName()
 	podName := pod.GetName()
-	preconditions := metav1.Preconditions{UID: &pod.UID}
+	preconditions := metav1.Preconditions{UID: &pod.UID, ResourceVersion: &pod.ResourceVersion}
 	deleteOptions := metav1.DeleteOptions{Preconditions: &preconditions}
 	err := rpc.kubeCli.CoreV1().Pods(ns).Delete(podName, &deleteOptions)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner.go b/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner.go
index b914e649b4a..14aa5687a24 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-operator/pkg/apis/pingcap/v1alpha1"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-operator/pkg/controller"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb-operator/pkg/label"
-	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
@@ -26,12 +25,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerIsNotPDOrTiKV   = "orphan pods cleaner: member type is not pd or tikv"
-	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPVCNameIsEmpty  = "orphan pods cleaner: pvcName is empty"
-	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPVCIsFound      = "orphan pods cleaner: pvc is found"
-	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodIsNotPending = "orphan pods cleaner: pod is not pending"
-	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodIsNotFound   = "orphan pods cleaner: pod does not exist anymore"
-	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodChanged      = "orphan pods cleaner: pod changed before deletion"
+	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerIsNotPDOrTiKV       = "orphan pods cleaner: member type is not pd or tikv"
+	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPVCNameIsEmpty      = "orphan pods cleaner: pvcName is empty"
+	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPVCIsFound          = "orphan pods cleaner: pvc is found"
+	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodHasBeenScheduled = "orphan pods cleaner: pod has been scheduled"
+	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodIsNotFound       = "orphan pods cleaner: pod does not exist anymore"
+	skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodChanged          = "orphan pods cleaner: pod changed before deletion"
 )
 
 // OrphanPodsCleaner implements the logic for cleaning the orphan pods(has no pvc)
@@ -88,8 +87,8 @@ func (opc *orphanPodsCleaner) Clean(tc *v1alpha1.TidbCluster) (map[string]string
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if pod.Status.Phase != v1.PodPending {
-			skipReason[podName] = skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodIsNotPending
+		if len(pod.Spec.NodeName) > 0 {
+			skipReason[podName] = skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodHasBeenScheduled
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -128,7 +127,7 @@ func (opc *orphanPodsCleaner) Clean(tc *v1alpha1.TidbCluster) (map[string]string
 		}
 
 		// if the PVC is not found in apiserver (also informer cache) and the
-		// phase of the Pod is Pending, delete it and let the stateful
+		// pod has not been scheduled, delete it and let the stateful
 		// controller to create the pod and its PVC(s) again
 		apiPod, err := opc.kubeCli.CoreV1().Pods(ns).Get(podName, metav1.GetOptions{})
 		if errors.IsNotFound(err) {
@@ -138,8 +137,9 @@ func (opc *orphanPodsCleaner) Clean(tc *v1alpha1.TidbCluster) (map[string]string
 		if err != nil {
 			return skipReason, err
 		}
-		// try our best to avoid deleting wrong object in apiserver
-		// TODO upgrade to use deleteOption.Preconditions.ResourceVersion in client-go 1.14+
+		// In pre-1.14, kube-apiserver does not support
+		// deleteOption.Preconditions.ResourceVersion, we try our best to avoid
+		// deleting wrong object in apiserver.
 		if apiPod.UID != pod.UID || apiPod.ResourceVersion != pod.ResourceVersion {
 			skipReason[podName] = skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodChanged
 			continue
diff --git a/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner_test.go b/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner_test.go
index d7bc6251d38..f954b7c3d8a 100644
--- a/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner_test.go
+++ b/pkg/manager/member/orphan_pods_cleaner_test.go
@@ -227,7 +227,9 @@ func TestOrphanPodsCleanerClean(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "pvc is not found but pod is not pending",
+			// in theory, this is is possible because we can't check the PVC
+			// and pod in an atomic operation.
+			name: "pvc is not found but pod has been scheduled",
 			pods: []*corev1.Pod{
 				{
 					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -246,9 +248,7 @@ func TestOrphanPodsCleanerClean(t *testing.T) {
 								},
 							},
 						},
-					},
-					Status: corev1.PodStatus{
-						Phase: corev1.PodRunning,
+						NodeName: "foobar",
 					},
 				},
 			},
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ func TestOrphanPodsCleanerClean(t *testing.T) {
 			expectFn: func(g *GomegaWithT, skipReason map[string]string, opc *orphanPodsCleaner, err error) {
 				g.Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 				g.Expect(len(skipReason)).To(Equal(1))
-				g.Expect(skipReason["pod-1"]).To(Equal(skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodIsNotPending))
+				g.Expect(skipReason["pod-1"]).To(Equal(skipReasonOrphanPodsCleanerPodHasBeenScheduled))
 			},
 		},
 		{