diff --git a/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_federator.go b/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_federator.go
index 2331c70d..02fb8df7 100644
--- a/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_federator.go
+++ b/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_federator.go
@@ -942,6 +942,7 @@ func (r *WorkloadDeploymentFederator) SetupWithManager(mgr mcmanager.Manager) er
 			r.FederationCluster,
 			&networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding{},
 			preserveOnBinding,
+			networkBindingChanged(),
 		))
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding.go b/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding.go
index 6232ec09..e80d8e24 100644
--- a/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding.go
+++ b/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding.go
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/event"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/predicate"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/multicluster-runtime/pkg/multicluster"
 	mcreconcile "sigs.k8s.io/multicluster-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
 
@@ -333,3 +335,23 @@ func applyNetworkBindingRefusal(
 	refusal.ObservedGeneration = observedGeneration
 	apimeta.SetStatusCondition(&status.Conditions, *refusal)
 }
+
+// networkBindingChanged ignores annotation bookkeeping while preserving
+// reconciliation inputs, ownership, and deletion lifecycle changes.
+func networkBindingChanged() predicate.TypedPredicate[*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding] {
+	return predicate.TypedFuncs[*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding]{
+		UpdateFunc: func(e event.TypedUpdateEvent[*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding]) bool {
+			a, b := e.ObjectOld, e.ObjectNew
+			if a == nil || b == nil {
+				return true
+			}
+			return a.UID != b.UID ||
+				!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(a.Spec, b.Spec) ||
+				!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(a.Status, b.Status) ||
+				!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(a.Labels, b.Labels) ||
+				!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(a.OwnerReferences, b.OwnerReferences) ||
+				!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(a.Finalizers, b.Finalizers) ||
+				!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(a.DeletionTimestamp, b.DeletionTimestamp)
+		},
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding_test.go b/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding_test.go
index 85eb3983..a0ef34b3 100644
--- a/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/workloaddeployment_network_binding_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"testing"
 
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/event"
+
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -566,3 +568,37 @@ func TestNetworkBindingStateDoesNotGateInstances(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.True(t, networkInterfaceClaimSatisfied(claim),
 		"binding state is not an input to instance gating")
 }
+
+func TestNetworkBindingChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	const changedName = "changed"
+	base := &networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding{}
+	cases := []struct {
+		name   string
+		change func(*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding)
+		want   bool
+	}{
+		{"annotation", func(b *networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding) {
+			b.Annotations = map[string]string{"networking.datumapis.com/presence-observed": "new"}
+			b.ResourceVersion = "2"
+		}, false},
+		{"status", func(b *networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding) {
+			b.Status.Conditions = []metav1.Condition{{Type: networkingv1alpha.NetworkBindingReady, Status: metav1.ConditionFalse}}
+		}, true},
+		{"spec", func(b *networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding) { b.Spec.Network.Name = changedName }, true},
+		{"owner", func(b *networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding) {
+			b.OwnerReferences = []metav1.OwnerReference{{Name: changedName}}
+		}, true},
+		{"deletion", func(b *networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding) { now := metav1.Now(); b.DeletionTimestamp = &now }, true},
+		{"labels", func(b *networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding) { b.Labels = map[string]string{"network": changedName} }, true},
+	}
+	p := networkBindingChanged()
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			b := base.DeepCopy()
+			tc.change(b)
+			require.Equal(t, tc.want, p.Update(event.TypedUpdateEvent[*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding]{ObjectOld: base, ObjectNew: b}))
+		})
+	}
+	require.True(t, p.Create(event.TypedCreateEvent[*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding]{Object: base}))
+	require.True(t, p.Delete(event.TypedDeleteEvent[*networkingv1alpha.NetworkBinding]{Object: base}))
+}