diff --git a/ssa/manager_apply.go b/ssa/manager_apply.go
index fb6a76030..7e6306972 100644
--- a/ssa/manager_apply.go
+++ b/ssa/manager_apply.go
@@ -45,10 +45,14 @@ import (
 // ApplyOptions contains options for server-side apply requests.
 type ApplyOptions struct {
 	// Force configures the engine to recreate objects that contain immutable field changes.
+	// The propagation policy used for deleting the existing object can be configured
+	// with the kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/propagationPolicy annotation.
 	Force bool `json:"force"`
 
 	// ForceSelector determines which in-cluster objects are Force applied
 	// based on the matching labels or annotations.
+	// The propagation policy used for deleting the existing object can be configured
+	// with the kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/propagationPolicy annotation.
 	ForceSelector map[string]string `json:"forceSelector"`
 
 	// ExclusionSelector determines which in-cluster objects are skipped from apply
@@ -141,7 +145,12 @@ func (m *ResourceManager) Apply(ctx context.Context, object *unstructured.Unstru
 	dryRunObject := object.DeepCopy()
 	if err := m.dryRunApply(ctx, dryRunObject); err != nil {
 		if !errors.IsNotFound(getError) && m.shouldForceApply(object, existingObject, opts, err) {
-			if err := m.client.Delete(ctx, existingObject, client.PropagationPolicy(metav1.DeletePropagationBackground)); err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+			deleteOpts, err := forceApplyDeleteOptions(object)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s immutable field detected, %w",
+					utils.FmtUnstructured(dryRunObject), err)
+			}
+			if err := m.client.Delete(ctx, existingObject, deleteOpts...); err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s immutable field detected, failed to delete object: %w",
 					utils.FmtUnstructured(dryRunObject), err)
 			}
@@ -256,7 +265,12 @@ func (m *ResourceManager) ApplyAll(ctx context.Context, objects []*unstructured.
 					// as immutable and deleted it when ApplyAll was called the last time (the check for ImmutableError
 					// returns false positives)
 					if !errors.IsNotFound(getError) && m.shouldForceApply(object, existingObject, opts, err) {
-						if err := m.client.Delete(ctx, existingObject, client.PropagationPolicy(metav1.DeletePropagationBackground)); err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+						deleteOpts, err := forceApplyDeleteOptions(object)
+						if err != nil {
+							return fmt.Errorf("%s immutable field detected, %w",
+								utils.FmtUnstructured(dryRunObject), err)
+						}
+						if err := m.client.Delete(ctx, existingObject, deleteOpts...); err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
 							return fmt.Errorf("%s immutable field detected, failed to delete object: %w",
 								utils.FmtUnstructured(dryRunObject), err)
 						}
@@ -581,6 +595,28 @@ func removeIgnoredFields(matchObj, obj *unstructured.Unstructured, rules jsondif
 	return nil
 }
 
+const forceApplyPropagationPolicyAnnotation = "kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/propagationPolicy"
+
+// forceApplyDeleteOptions returns delete options for forced immutable object replacement.
+// The kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/propagationPolicy annotation accepts 'background'
+// and 'orphan'. When the annotation is absent, PropagationPolicy remains unset so
+// the API server owns the default.
+func forceApplyDeleteOptions(object *unstructured.Unstructured) ([]client.DeleteOption, error) {
+	value, ok := object.GetAnnotations()[forceApplyPropagationPolicyAnnotation]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	switch {
+	case strings.EqualFold(value, string(metav1.DeletePropagationBackground)):
+		return []client.DeleteOption{client.PropagationPolicy(metav1.DeletePropagationBackground)}, nil
+	case strings.EqualFold(value, string(metav1.DeletePropagationOrphan)):
+		return []client.DeleteOption{client.PropagationPolicy(metav1.DeletePropagationOrphan)}, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported propagation policy %q, must be background or orphan", value)
+	}
+}
+
 // lookupJSONPointer resolves an RFC 6901 JSON pointer against the unstructured
 // object's content. A missing path is reported as (nil, false, nil).
 func lookupJSONPointer(obj *unstructured.Unstructured, pointer string) (any, bool, error) {
diff --git a/ssa/manager_apply_test.go b/ssa/manager_apply_test.go
index 09731984d..7caab9d37 100644
--- a/ssa/manager_apply_test.go
+++ b/ssa/manager_apply_test.go
@@ -532,6 +532,71 @@ func TestApply_Force(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestForceApplyDeleteOptions(t *testing.T) {
+	background := metav1.DeletePropagationBackground
+	orphan := metav1.DeletePropagationOrphan
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		annotation string
+		want       *metav1.DeletionPropagation
+		wantErr    string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "no annotation uses API server default",
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "background annotation sets background policy",
+			annotation: "background",
+			want:       &background,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "orphan annotation sets orphan policy",
+			annotation: "orphan",
+			want:       &orphan,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "invalid annotation errors",
+			annotation: "foreground",
+			wantErr:    `unsupported propagation policy "foreground", must be background or orphan`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			object := &unstructured.Unstructured{}
+			if tt.annotation != "" {
+				object.SetAnnotations(map[string]string{
+					forceApplyPropagationPolicyAnnotation: tt.annotation,
+				})
+			}
+
+			opts, err := forceApplyDeleteOptions(object)
+			if tt.wantErr != "" {
+				if err == nil {
+					t.Fatal("expected error but got none")
+				}
+				if diff := cmp.Diff(tt.wantErr, err.Error()); diff != "" {
+					t.Errorf("Mismatch from expected value (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
+				}
+				return
+			}
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			deleteOpts := &client.DeleteOptions{}
+			for _, opt := range opts {
+				opt.ApplyToDelete(deleteOpts)
+			}
+
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(tt.want, deleteOpts.PropagationPolicy); diff != "" {
+				t.Errorf("Mismatch from expected value (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestApply_SetNativeKindsDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 	timeout := 10 * time.Second
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), timeout)