diff --git a/pkg/controller/controller.go b/pkg/controller/controller.go
index e584b2c3c1..7f6e5f0058 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controller.go
@@ -359,36 +359,14 @@ func (lbc *LoadBalancerController) SyncBackends(state interface{}) error {
 	}
 	ingSvcPorts := syncState.urlMap.AllServicePorts()
 
-	// Create instance groups and set named ports.
-	igs, err := lbc.instancePool.EnsureInstanceGroupsAndPorts(lbc.ctx.ClusterNamer.InstanceGroup(), nodePorts(ingSvcPorts))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	nodeNames, err := utils.GetReadyNodeNames(listers.NewNodeLister(lbc.nodeLister))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	// Add/remove instances to the instance groups.
-	if err = lbc.instancePool.Sync(nodeNames); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// TODO: Remove this after deprecation
-	ing := syncState.ing
-	if utils.IsGCEMultiClusterIngress(syncState.ing) {
-		// Add instance group names as annotation on the ingress and return.
-		if ing.Annotations == nil {
-			ing.Annotations = map[string]string{}
-		}
-		if err = setInstanceGroupsAnnotation(ing.Annotations, igs); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err = updateAnnotations(lbc.ctx.KubeClient, ing.Name, ing.Namespace, ing.Annotations); err != nil {
+	// Only sync instance group when IG is used for this ingress
+	if len(nodePorts(ingSvcPorts)) > 0 {
+		if err := lbc.syncInstanceGroup(syncState.ing, ingSvcPorts); err != nil {
+			klog.Errorf("Failed to sync instance group for ingress %v: %v", syncState.ing, err)
 			return err
 		}
-		// This short-circuit will stop the syncer from moving to next step.
-		return ingsync.ErrSkipBackendsSync
+	} else {
+		klog.V(2).Infof("Skip syncing instance groups for ingress %v/%v", syncState.ing.Namespace, syncState.ing.Name)
 	}
 
 	// Sync the backends
@@ -398,6 +376,10 @@ func (lbc *LoadBalancerController) SyncBackends(state interface{}) error {
 
 	// Get the zones our groups live in.
 	zones, err := lbc.Translator.ListZones()
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Errorf("lbc.Translator.ListZones() = %v", err)
+		return err
+	}
 	var groupKeys []backends.GroupKey
 	for _, zone := range zones {
 		groupKeys = append(groupKeys, backends.GroupKey{Zone: zone})
@@ -421,6 +403,43 @@ func (lbc *LoadBalancerController) SyncBackends(state interface{}) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// syncInstanceGroup creates instance groups, syncs instances, sets named ports and updates instance group annotation
+func (lbc *LoadBalancerController) syncInstanceGroup(ing *v1beta1.Ingress, ingSvcPorts []utils.ServicePort) error {
+	nodePorts := nodePorts(ingSvcPorts)
+	klog.V(2).Infof("Syncing Instance Group for ingress %v/%v with nodeports %v", ing.Namespace, ing.Name, nodePorts)
+	igs, err := lbc.instancePool.EnsureInstanceGroupsAndPorts(lbc.ctx.ClusterNamer.InstanceGroup(), nodePorts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	nodeNames, err := utils.GetReadyNodeNames(listers.NewNodeLister(lbc.nodeLister))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// Add/remove instances to the instance groups.
+	if err = lbc.instancePool.Sync(nodeNames); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// TODO: Remove this after deprecation
+	if utils.IsGCEMultiClusterIngress(ing) {
+		klog.Warningf("kubemci is used for ingress %v", ing)
+		// Add instance group names as annotation on the ingress and return.
+		if ing.Annotations == nil {
+			ing.Annotations = map[string]string{}
+		}
+		if err = setInstanceGroupsAnnotation(ing.Annotations, igs); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err = updateAnnotations(lbc.ctx.KubeClient, ing.Name, ing.Namespace, ing.Annotations); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// This short-circuit will stop the syncer from moving to next step.
+		return ingsync.ErrSkipBackendsSync
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // GCBackends implements Controller.
 func (lbc *LoadBalancerController) GCBackends(toKeep []*v1beta1.Ingress) error {
 	// Only GCE ingress associated resources are managed by this controller.
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/controller_test.go
index 816fb1a12b..caf9d07c83 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controller_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package controller
 import (
 	context2 "context"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ import (
 var (
 	nodePortCounter = 30000
 	clusterUID      = "aaaaa"
+	fakeZone        = "zone-a"
 )
 
 // newLoadBalancerController create a loadbalancer controller.
@@ -77,7 +79,7 @@ func newLoadBalancerController() *LoadBalancerController {
 	// TODO(rramkumar): Fix this so we don't have to override with our fake
 	lbc.instancePool = instances.NewNodePool(instances.NewFakeInstanceGroups(sets.NewString(), namer), namer)
 	lbc.l7Pool = loadbalancers.NewLoadBalancerPool(fakeGCE, namer, events.RecorderProducerMock{}, namer_util.NewFrontendNamerFactory(namer, ""))
-	lbc.instancePool.Init(&instances.FakeZoneLister{Zones: []string{"zone-a"}})
+	lbc.instancePool.Init(&instances.FakeZoneLister{Zones: []string{fakeZone}})
 
 	lbc.hasSynced = func() bool { return true }
 
@@ -176,6 +178,38 @@ func TestIngressSyncError(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestNEGOnlyIngress asserts that `sync` will not create IG when there is only NEG backends for the ingress
+func TestNEGOnlyIngress(t *testing.T) {
+	lbc := newLoadBalancerController()
+
+	svc := test.NewService(types.NamespacedName{Name: "my-service", Namespace: "default"}, api_v1.ServiceSpec{
+		Type:  api_v1.ServiceTypeNodePort,
+		Ports: []api_v1.ServicePort{{Port: 80}},
+	})
+	negAnnotation := annotations.NegAnnotation{Ingress: true}
+	svc.Annotations = map[string]string{
+		annotations.NEGAnnotationKey: negAnnotation.String(),
+	}
+	addService(lbc, svc)
+	someBackend := backend("my-service", intstr.FromInt(80))
+	ing := test.NewIngress(types.NamespacedName{Name: "my-ingress", Namespace: "default"},
+		v1beta1.IngressSpec{
+			Backend: &someBackend,
+		})
+	addIngress(lbc, ing)
+
+	ingStoreKey := getKey(ing, t)
+	err := lbc.sync(ingStoreKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("lbc.sync(%v) = %v, want nil", ingStoreKey, err)
+	}
+
+	ig, err := lbc.instancePool.Get(lbc.ctx.ClusterNamer.InstanceGroup(), fakeZone)
+	if err != nil && !utils.IsHTTPErrorCode(err, http.StatusNotFound) {
+		t.Errorf("lbc.ctx.Cloud.ListInstanceGroups(%v) = %v, %v, want [], http.StatusNotFound", fakeZone, ig, err)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestIngressCreateDeleteFinalizer asserts that `sync` will will not return an
 // error for a good ingress config. It also tests garbage collection for
 // Ingresses that need to be deleted, and keep the ones that don't, depending