diff --git a/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook.go b/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook.go
index 6922eaa32a..a494a4a242 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook.go
@@ -204,8 +204,9 @@ func lifecycleHookNeedsUpdate(existing *expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook, expected *e
 	return ptr.Deref(existing.DefaultResult, expinfrav1.LifecycleHookDefaultResultAbandon) != ptr.Deref(expected.DefaultResult, expinfrav1.LifecycleHookDefaultResultAbandon) ||
 		ptr.Deref(existing.HeartbeatTimeout, metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second}) != ptr.Deref(expected.HeartbeatTimeout, metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second}) ||
 		existing.LifecycleTransition != expected.LifecycleTransition ||
-		existing.NotificationTargetARN != expected.NotificationTargetARN ||
-		existing.NotificationMetadata != expected.NotificationMetadata
+		ptr.Deref(existing.NotificationTargetARN, "") != ptr.Deref(expected.NotificationTargetARN, "") ||
+		ptr.Deref(existing.RoleARN, "") != ptr.Deref(expected.RoleARN, "") ||
+		ptr.Deref(existing.NotificationMetadata, "") != ptr.Deref(expected.NotificationMetadata, "")
 }
 
 func reconcileLifecycleHook(ctx context.Context, asgService services.ASGInterface, asgName string, wantedHook *expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook, existingHooks []*expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook, storeConditionsOnObject deprecatedv1beta1conditions.Setter, log logger.Wrapper) error {
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook_test.go b/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook_test.go
index 5aba913f64..865d3007b1 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/services/autoscaling/lifecyclehook_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
 
 	expinfrav1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws/v2/exp/api/v1beta2"
 )
@@ -53,6 +54,29 @@ func TestLifecycleHookNeedsUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			wantUpdate: false,
 		},
 
+		{
+			name: "exactly equal (all fields filled)",
+			existing: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                  "test",
+				NotificationTargetARN: ptr.To("arn:aws:sqs:eu-west-1:123456789012:mycluster-nth"),
+				RoleARN:               ptr.To("arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/mycluster-nth-notification"),
+				LifecycleTransition:   "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:      &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:         &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata:  nil,
+			},
+			expected: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                  "test",
+				NotificationTargetARN: ptr.To("arn:aws:sqs:eu-west-1:123456789012:mycluster-nth"),
+				RoleARN:               ptr.To("arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/mycluster-nth-notification"),
+				LifecycleTransition:   "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:      &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:         &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata:  nil,
+			},
+			wantUpdate: false,
+		},
+
 		{
 			name: "heartbeatTimeout and defaultResult not set in manifest, but set to defaults by AWS",
 			existing: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
@@ -119,6 +143,90 @@ func TestLifecycleHookNeedsUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantUpdate: true,
 		},
+
+		{
+			name: "role ARN differs",
+			existing: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                  "test",
+				NotificationTargetARN: ptr.To("arn:aws:sqs:eu-west-1:123456789012:mycluster-nth"),
+				RoleARN:               ptr.To("arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/mycluster-nth-notification"),
+				LifecycleTransition:   "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:      &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:         &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata:  nil,
+			},
+			expected: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                  "test",
+				NotificationTargetARN: ptr.To("arn:aws:sqs:eu-west-1:123456789012:mycluster-nth"),
+				RoleARN:               ptr.To("arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/mycluster-nth-notification2"),
+				LifecycleTransition:   "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:      &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:         &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata:  nil,
+			},
+			wantUpdate: true,
+		},
+
+		{
+			name: "notification target ARN differs",
+			existing: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                  "test",
+				NotificationTargetARN: ptr.To("arn:aws:sqs:eu-west-1:123456789012:mycluster-nth"),
+				RoleARN:               ptr.To("arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/mycluster-nth-notification"),
+				LifecycleTransition:   "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:      &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:         &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata:  nil,
+			},
+			expected: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                  "test",
+				NotificationTargetARN: ptr.To("arn:aws:sqs:eu-west-1:123456789012:mycluster-nth2"),
+				RoleARN:               ptr.To("arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/mycluster-nth-notification"),
+				LifecycleTransition:   "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:      &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:         &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata:  nil,
+			},
+			wantUpdate: true,
+		},
+
+		{
+			name: "notification metadata both empty",
+			existing: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                 "test",
+				LifecycleTransition:  "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:     &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:        &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata: nil,
+			},
+			expected: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                 "test",
+				LifecycleTransition:  "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:     &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:        &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata: ptr.To(""),
+			},
+			wantUpdate: false,
+		},
+
+		{
+			name: "notification metadata differs",
+			existing: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                 "test",
+				LifecycleTransition:  "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:     &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:        &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata: ptr.To("abc"),
+			},
+			expected: expinfrav1.AWSLifecycleHook{
+				Name:                 "test",
+				LifecycleTransition:  "autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_TERMINATING",
+				HeartbeatTimeout:     &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3600 * time.Second},
+				DefaultResult:        &defaultResultAbandon,
+				NotificationMetadata: ptr.To("xyz"),
+			},
+			wantUpdate: true,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {