diff --git a/sky/backends/cloud_vm_ray_backend.py b/sky/backends/cloud_vm_ray_backend.py
index a550a4f0e36..4060d06d500 100644
--- a/sky/backends/cloud_vm_ray_backend.py
+++ b/sky/backends/cloud_vm_ray_backend.py
@@ -4066,7 +4066,7 @@ def set_autostop(self,
         if idle_minutes_to_autostop is not None:
             # Skip auto-stop for Kubernetes clusters.
             if (isinstance(handle.launched_resources.cloud, clouds.Kubernetes)
-                    and not down):
+                    and not down and idle_minutes_to_autostop >= 0):
                 # We should hit this code path only for the jobs controller on
                 # Kubernetes clusters.
                 assert (controller_utils.Controllers.from_name(