diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 657849e77..880e5f2bd 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ require (
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.26.0
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.27.0
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20240531132922-fd00a4e0eefc
 	golang.org/x/net v0.29.0
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.21.0
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.8.0
@@ -197,7 +198,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/yudai/golcs v0.0.0-20170316035057-ecda9a501e82 // indirect
 	go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver v1.15.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/arch v0.7.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20240531132922-fd00a4e0eefc // indirect
 	golang.org/x/mod v0.20.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.25.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/term v0.24.0 // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/controller.go b/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/controller.go
index c2f908052..3ae7c49c0 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/pipeline/controller.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/imdario/mergo"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"golang.org/x/exp/maps"
 	appv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	batchv1 "k8s.io/api/batch/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -181,8 +182,8 @@ func (r *pipelineReconciler) reconcile(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipeline) (
 	}
 
 	// check if any changes related to pause/resume lifecycle for the pipeline
-	if isLifecycleChange(pl) {
-		oldPhase := pl.Status.Phase
+	oldPhase := pl.Status.Phase
+	if isLifecycleChange(pl) && oldPhase != pl.Spec.Lifecycle.GetDesiredPhase() {
 		requeue, err := r.updateDesiredState(ctx, pl)
 		if err != nil {
 			logMsg := fmt.Sprintf("Updated desired pipeline phase failed: %v", zap.Error(err))
@@ -611,7 +612,7 @@ func buildVertices(pl *dfv1.Pipeline) map[string]dfv1.Vertex {
 		copyVertexTemplate(pl, vCopy)
 		copyVertexLimits(pl, vCopy)
 		replicas := int32(1)
-		// If the desired phase is paused or we are in the middle of pausing we should not start any vertex replicas
+		// If the desired phase is paused, or we are in the middle of pausing we should not start any vertex replicas
 		if isLifecycleChange(pl) {
 			replicas = int32(0)
 		} else if v.IsReduceUDF() {
@@ -830,39 +831,48 @@ func (r *pipelineReconciler) resumePipeline(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipeli
 }
 
 func (r *pipelineReconciler) pausePipeline(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipeline) (bool, error) {
-	// check that annotations / pause timestamp annotation exist
+	var (
+		drainCompleted = false
+		daemonClient   daemonclient.DaemonClient
+		errWhileDrain  error
+	)
+	pl.Status.MarkPhasePausing()
+
 	if pl.GetAnnotations() == nil || pl.GetAnnotations()[dfv1.KeyPauseTimestamp] == "" {
+		_, err := r.scaleDownSourceVertices(ctx, pl)
+		if err != nil {
+			// If there's an error requeue the request
+			return true, err
+		}
 		patchJson := `{"metadata":{"annotations":{"` + dfv1.KeyPauseTimestamp + `":"` + time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339) + `"}}}`
-		if err := r.client.Patch(ctx, pl, client.RawPatch(types.MergePatchType, []byte(patchJson))); err != nil && !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		if err = r.client.Patch(ctx, pl, client.RawPatch(types.MergePatchType, []byte(patchJson))); err != nil && !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 			return true, err
 		}
+		// This is to give some time to process the new messages,
+		// otherwise check IsDrained directly may get incorrect information
+		return true, nil
 	}
 
-	pl.Status.MarkPhasePausing()
-	updated, err := r.scaleDownSourceVertices(ctx, pl)
-	if err != nil || updated {
-		// If there's an error, or scaling down happens, requeue the request
-		// This is to give some time to process the new messages, otherwise check IsDrained directly may get incorrect information
-		return updated, err
-	}
-
-	var daemonError error
-	var drainCompleted = false
-
+	// Check if all the source vertex pods have scaled down to zero
+	sourcePodsTerminated, err := r.noSourceVertexPodsRunning(ctx, pl)
+	// If the sources have scaled down successfully then check for the buffer information.
 	// Check for the daemon to obtain the buffer draining information, in case we see an error trying to
 	// retrieve this we do not exit prematurely to allow honoring the pause timeout for a consistent error
 	// - In case the timeout has not occurred we would trigger a requeue
 	// - If the timeout has occurred even after getting the drained error, we will try to pause the pipeline
-	daemonClient, daemonError := daemonclient.NewGRPCDaemonServiceClient(pl.GetDaemonServiceURL())
-	if daemonClient != nil {
-		defer func() {
-			_ = daemonClient.Close()
-		}()
-		drainCompleted, err = daemonClient.IsDrained(ctx, pl.Name)
-		if err != nil {
-			daemonError = err
+	if sourcePodsTerminated {
+		daemonClient, err = daemonclient.NewGRPCDaemonServiceClient(pl.GetDaemonServiceURL())
+		if daemonClient != nil {
+			defer func() {
+				_ = daemonClient.Close()
+			}()
+			drainCompleted, err = daemonClient.IsDrained(ctx, pl.Name)
 		}
 	}
+	if err != nil {
+		errWhileDrain = err
+	}
+
 	pauseTimestamp, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, pl.GetAnnotations()[dfv1.KeyPauseTimestamp])
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
@@ -874,8 +884,8 @@ func (r *pipelineReconciler) pausePipeline(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipelin
 		if err != nil {
 			return true, err
 		}
-		if daemonError != nil {
-			r.logger.Errorw("Error in fetching Drained status, Pausing due to timeout", zap.Error(daemonError))
+		if errWhileDrain != nil {
+			r.logger.Errorw("Errors encountered while pausing, moving to paused after timeout", zap.Error(errWhileDrain))
 		}
 		// if the drain completed successfully, then set the DrainedOnPause field to true
 		if drainCompleted {
@@ -884,7 +894,20 @@ func (r *pipelineReconciler) pausePipeline(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipelin
 		pl.Status.MarkPhasePaused()
 		return false, nil
 	}
-	return true, daemonError
+	return true, err
+}
+
+// noSourceVertexPodsRunning checks whether any source vertex has running replicas
+func (r *pipelineReconciler) noSourceVertexPodsRunning(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipeline) (bool, error) {
+	sources := pl.Spec.GetSourcesByName()
+	pods := corev1.PodList{}
+	label := fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s, %s in (%s)", dfv1.KeyPipelineName, pl.Name,
+		dfv1.KeyVertexName, strings.Join(maps.Keys(sources), ","))
+	selector, _ := labels.Parse(label)
+	if err := r.client.List(ctx, &pods, &client.ListOptions{Namespace: pl.Namespace, LabelSelector: selector}); err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return len(pods.Items) == 0, nil
 }
 
 func (r *pipelineReconciler) scaleDownSourceVertices(ctx context.Context, pl *dfv1.Pipeline) (bool, error) {
@@ -965,6 +988,8 @@ func (r *pipelineReconciler) checkChildrenResourceStatus(ctx context.Context, pi
 				return
 			}
 		}
+		// if all conditions are True, clear the status message.
+		pipeline.Status.Message = ""
 	}()
 
 	// get the daemon deployment and update the status of it to the pipeline