diff --git a/internal/controllers/vgmanager/controller.go b/internal/controllers/vgmanager/controller.go
index 8a764e711..68040e717 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/vgmanager/controller.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/vgmanager/controller.go
@@ -678,7 +678,25 @@ func (r *Reconciler) deleteRemovedDevices(
 	devicesToRemove := make([]string, 0)
 
 	for _, pv := range currentVG.PVs {
-		if !slices.Contains(userProvidedMappings, pv.PvName) {
+		// Check if the PV matches any user-provided path
+		// We need to handle symlinks: the PV might be stored as /dev/mapper/encrypted
+		// while the user path resolves to /dev/dm-0, or vice versa
+		pvMatched := false
+
+		// First, try direct match with PV name as-is
+		if slices.Contains(userProvidedMappings, pv.PvName) {
+			pvMatched = true
+		}
+
+		// If no direct match, try resolving the PV name and compare
+		if !pvMatched {
+			resolvedPvName, err := resolver.Resolve(pv.PvName)
+			if err == nil && slices.Contains(userProvidedMappings, resolvedPvName) {
+				pvMatched = true
+			}
+		}
+
+		if !pvMatched {
 			devicesToRemove = append(devicesToRemove, pv.PvName)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/test/e2e/lvm_cluster_test.go b/test/e2e/lvm_cluster_test.go
index 72301a553..c4a19d7b6 100644
--- a/test/e2e/lvm_cluster_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/lvm_cluster_test.go
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ func lvmClusterTest() {
 	Describe("Storage Class", Serial, func() {
 		It("should become ready without a default storageclass", func(ctx SpecContext) {
 			// set default to false
-			for _, dc := range cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses {
-				dc.Default = false
+			for i := range cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses {
+				cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses[i].Default = false
 			}
 
 			CreateResource(ctx, cluster)
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ func lvmClusterTest() {
 
 	Describe("Thick Provisioning", Serial, func() {
 		It("should become ready if ThinPoolConfig is empty (thick provisioning)", func(ctx SpecContext) {
-			for _, dc := range cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses {
-				dc.ThinPoolConfig = nil
+			for i := range cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses {
+				cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses[i].ThinPoolConfig = nil
 			}
 			CreateResource(ctx, cluster)
 			VerifyLVMSSetup(ctx, cluster)
diff --git a/test/e2e/lvm_pvc_test.go b/test/e2e/lvm_pvc_test.go
index 9c7b9a3bd..db4c965f4 100644
--- a/test/e2e/lvm_pvc_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/lvm_pvc_test.go
@@ -113,8 +113,8 @@ func pvcTestThickProvisioning() {
 		cluster = GetDefaultTestLVMClusterTemplate()
 
 		// set ThinPoolConfig to nil
-		for _, dc := range cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses {
-			dc.ThinPoolConfig = nil
+		for i := range cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses {
+			cluster.Spec.Storage.DeviceClasses[i].ThinPoolConfig = nil
 		}
 
 		CreateResource(ctx, cluster)