diff --git a/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p.go b/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p.go
index fa7b770d878b..20891c7a4cb8 100644
--- a/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p.go
+++ b/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func (c2pResolverBuilder) Build(t resolver.Target, cc resolver.ClientConn, opts
 	{
 		"server_uri": "%s",
 		"channel_creds": [{"type": "google_default"}],
-		"server_features": ["xds_v3"]
+		"server_features": ["xds_v3", "ignore_resource_deletion"]
 	}`, balancerName)))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to build bootstrap configuration: %v", err)
diff --git a/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p_test.go b/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p_test.go
index 961f6546bf41..44e1a68e2387 100644
--- a/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p_test.go
+++ b/xds/googledirectpath/googlec2p_test.go
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ func TestBuildXDS(t *testing.T) {
 			wantServerConfig, err := bootstrap.ServerConfigFromJSON([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{
 				"server_uri": "%s",
 				"channel_creds": [{"type": "google_default"}],
-				"server_features": ["xds_v3"]
+				"server_features": ["xds_v3", "ignore_resource_deletion"]
 			}`, tdURL)))
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("Failed to build server bootstrap config: %v", err)