diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadata.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadata.scala
index 5cb8a73e4b628..a7a6e915d99ca 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadata.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadata.scala
@@ -774,8 +774,8 @@ private[group] class GroupMetadata(val groupId: String, initialState: GroupState
             .getOrElse(commitRecordMetadataAndOffset.offsetAndMetadata.commitTimestamp)
         )
 
-      case Some(ConsumerProtocol.PROTOCOL_TYPE) if subscribedTopics.isDefined =>
-        // consumers exist in the group =>
+      case Some(ConsumerProtocol.PROTOCOL_TYPE) if subscribedTopics.isDefined && is(Stable) =>
+        // consumers exist in the group and group is stable =>
         // - if the group is aware of the subscribed topics and retention period had passed since the
         //   the last commit timestamp, expire the offset. offset with pending offset commit are not
         //   expired
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadataTest.scala b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadataTest.scala
index 275b7f62351e5..eb0748d537c2d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadataTest.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/coordinator/group/GroupMetadataTest.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerPartitionAssignor.Subscription
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.internals.ConsumerProtocol
 import org.apache.kafka.common.TopicPartition
 import org.apache.kafka.common.protocol.Errors
-import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Time
+import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.{Time, MockTime}
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions._
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.{BeforeEach, Test}
 
@@ -259,6 +259,48 @@ class GroupMetadataTest {
     assertFalse(group.supportsProtocols(protocolType, Set("range", "foo")))
   }
 
+  @Test
+  def testOffsetRemovalDuringTransitionFromEmptyToNonEmpty(): Unit = {
+    val topic = "foo"
+    val partition = new TopicPartition(topic, 0)
+    val time = new MockTime()
+    group = new GroupMetadata("groupId", Empty, time)
+
+    // Rebalance once in order to commit offsets
+    val member = new MemberMetadata(memberId, None, clientId, clientHost, rebalanceTimeoutMs,
+      sessionTimeoutMs, protocolType, List(("range", ConsumerProtocol.serializeSubscription(new Subscription(List("foo").asJava)).array())))
+    group.transitionTo(PreparingRebalance)
+    group.add(member)
+    group.initNextGeneration()
+    assertEquals(Some(Set("foo")), group.getSubscribedTopics)
+
+    val offset = offsetAndMetadata(offset = 37, timestamp = time.milliseconds())
+    val commitRecordOffset = 3
+
+    group.prepareOffsetCommit(Map(partition -> offset))
+    assertTrue(group.hasOffsets)
+    assertEquals(None, group.offset(partition))
+    group.onOffsetCommitAppend(partition, CommitRecordMetadataAndOffset(Some(commitRecordOffset), offset))
+
+    val offsetRetentionMs = 50000L
+    time.sleep(offsetRetentionMs + 1)
+
+    // Rebalance again so that the group becomes empty
+    group.transitionTo(PreparingRebalance)
+    group.remove(memberId)
+    group.initNextGeneration()
+
+    // The group is empty, but we should not expire the offset because the state was just changed
+    assertEquals(Empty, group.currentState)
+    assertEquals(Map.empty, group.removeExpiredOffsets(time.milliseconds(), offsetRetentionMs))
+
+    // Start a new rebalance to add the member back. The offset should not be expired
+    // while the rebalance is in progress.
+    group.transitionTo(PreparingRebalance)
+    group.add(member)
+    assertEquals(Map.empty, group.removeExpiredOffsets(time.milliseconds(), offsetRetentionMs))
+  }
+
   @Test
   def testSubscribedTopics(): Unit = {
     // not able to compute it for a newly created group
@@ -718,8 +760,8 @@ class GroupMetadataTest {
     assertTrue(group.is(targetState))
   }
 
-  private def offsetAndMetadata(offset: Long): OffsetAndMetadata = {
-    OffsetAndMetadata(offset, "", Time.SYSTEM.milliseconds())
+  private def offsetAndMetadata(offset: Long, timestamp: Long = Time.SYSTEM.milliseconds()): OffsetAndMetadata = {
+    OffsetAndMetadata(offset, "", timestamp)
   }
 
 }