diff --git a/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue.go b/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue.go
index 71363f0d17..c0e291c2a1 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue.go
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ type AddOpts struct {
 // internally de-duplicates all items that are added to
 // it. It will use the max of the passed priorities and the
 // min of possible durations.
+//
+// When an item that is already enqueued at a lower priority
+// is re-enqueued with a higher priority, it will be placed at
+// the end among items of the new priority, in order to
+// preserve FIFO semantics within each priority level.
+// The effective duration (i.e. the ready time) is still
+// computed as the minimum across all enqueues.
 type PriorityQueue[T comparable] interface {
 	workqueue.TypedRateLimitingInterface[T]
 	AddWithOpts(o AddOpts, Items ...T)
@@ -161,12 +168,12 @@ func (w *priorityqueue[T]) AddWithOpts(o AddOpts, items ...T) {
 				Priority:     ptr.Deref(o.Priority, 0),
 				ReadyAt:      readyAt,
 			}
+			w.addedCounter++
 			w.items[key] = item
 			w.queue.ReplaceOrInsert(item)
 			if item.ReadyAt == nil {
 				w.metrics.add(key, item.Priority)
 			}
-			w.addedCounter++
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -179,6 +186,8 @@ func (w *priorityqueue[T]) AddWithOpts(o AddOpts, items ...T) {
 				w.metrics.updateDepthWithPriorityMetric(item.Priority, newPriority)
 			}
 			item.Priority = newPriority
+			item.AddedCounter = w.addedCounter
+			w.addedCounter++
 		}
 
 		if item.ReadyAt != nil && (readyAt == nil || readyAt.Before(*item.ReadyAt)) {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue_test.go b/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue_test.go
index 8260126e12..989febdbcf 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/priorityqueue/priorityqueue_test.go
@@ -320,6 +320,26 @@ var _ = Describe("Controllerworkqueue", func() {
 			Expect(depth).To(Equal(0))
 		}
 	})
+
+	It("follows FIFO order in the new priority queue when item priority changes", func() {
+		q, _ := newQueue()
+		defer q.ShutDown()
+
+		q.AddWithOpts(AddOpts{Priority: ptr.To(0)}, "foo")
+		q.AddWithOpts(AddOpts{Priority: ptr.To(1)}, "bar")
+		q.AddWithOpts(AddOpts{Priority: ptr.To(1)}, "foo")
+		Expect(q.Len()).To(Equal(2))
+
+		item, priority, _ := q.GetWithPriority()
+		Expect(item).To(Equal("bar"))
+		Expect(priority).To(Equal(1))
+		Expect(q.Len()).To(Equal(1))
+
+		item, priority, _ = q.GetWithPriority()
+		Expect(item).To(Equal("foo"))
+		Expect(priority).To(Equal(1))
+		Expect(q.Len()).To(Equal(0))
+	})
 })
 
 func BenchmarkAddGetDone(b *testing.B) {