diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f3c6fc74dcd..177932f493d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/emicklei/go-restful/v3 v3.9.0 // indirect
 	github.com/emirpasic/gods v1.12.0 // indirect
 	github.com/evanphx/json-patch v4.12.0+incompatible // indirect
-	github.com/evanphx/json-patch/v5 v5.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/evanphx/json-patch/v5 v5.6.0
 	github.com/facebookgo/clock v0.0.0-20150410010913-600d898af40a // indirect
 	github.com/fasthttp-contrib/sessions v0.0.0-20160905201309-74f6ac73d5d5 // indirect
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.13.0 // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/injector/pod_patch.go b/pkg/injector/pod_patch.go
index cd0d3f636b6..eefd1c1dc7e 100644
--- a/pkg/injector/pod_patch.go
+++ b/pkg/injector/pod_patch.go
@@ -129,11 +129,13 @@ func (i *injector) getPodPatchOperations(ar *v1.AdmissionReview,
 		})
 	}
 
-	patchOps = append(patchOps, sidecar.PatchOperation{
-		Op:    "add",
-		Path:  sidecar.PatchPathContainers + "/-",
-		Value: sidecarContainer,
-	})
+	patchOps = append(patchOps,
+		sidecar.PatchOperation{
+			Op:    "add",
+			Path:  sidecar.PatchPathContainers + "/-",
+			Value: sidecarContainer,
+		},
+		sidecar.AddDaprSideCarInjectedLabel(pod.Labels))
 	patchOps = append(patchOps,
 		sidecar.AddDaprEnvVarsToContainers(appContainers)...)
 	patchOps = append(patchOps,
diff --git a/pkg/injector/sidecar/consts.go b/pkg/injector/sidecar/consts.go
index 8823069551a..24d261a95c7 100644
--- a/pkg/injector/sidecar/consts.go
+++ b/pkg/injector/sidecar/consts.go
@@ -26,12 +26,14 @@ const (
 	SidecarMetricsPortName         = "dapr-metrics"
 	SidecarDebugPortName           = "dapr-debug"
 	SidecarHealthzPath             = "healthz"
+	SidecarInjectedLabel           = "dapr.io/sidecar-injected"
 	APIVersionV1                   = "v1.0"
 	UnixDomainSocketVolume         = "dapr-unix-domain-socket" // Name of the Unix domain socket volume.
 	UserContainerDaprHTTPPortName  = "DAPR_HTTP_PORT"          // Name of the variable exposed to the app containing the Dapr HTTP port.
 	UserContainerDaprGRPCPortName  = "DAPR_GRPC_PORT"          // Name of the variable exposed to the app containing the Dapr gRPC port.
 	PatchPathContainers            = "/spec/containers"
 	PatchPathVolumes               = "/spec/volumes"
+	PatchPathLabels                = "/metadata/labels"
 	TokenVolumeKubernetesMountPath = "/var/run/secrets/dapr.io/sentrytoken" /* #nosec */ // Mount path for the Kubernetes service account volume with the sentry token.
 	TokenVolumeName                = "dapr-identity-token"                  /* #nosec */ // Name of the volume with the service account token for daprd.
 )
diff --git a/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch.go b/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch.go
index fa92d472d05..afca20d4729 100644
--- a/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch.go
+++ b/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch.go
@@ -58,6 +58,24 @@ func AddDaprEnvVarsToContainers(containers map[int]corev1.Container) []PatchOper
 	return envPatchOps
 }
 
+// AddDaprSideCarInjectedLabel adds Dapr label to patch pod so list of patched pods can be retrieved more efficiently
+func AddDaprSideCarInjectedLabel(labels map[string]string) PatchOperation {
+	if len(labels) == 0 { // empty labels
+		return PatchOperation{
+			Op:   "add",
+			Path: PatchPathLabels,
+			Value: map[string]string{
+				SidecarInjectedLabel: "true",
+			},
+		}
+	}
+	return PatchOperation{
+		Op:    "add",
+		Path:  PatchPathLabels + "/dapr.io~1sidecar-injected",
+		Value: "true",
+	}
+}
+
 // GetEnvPatchOperations adds new environment variables only if they do not exist.
 // It does not override existing values for those variables if they have been defined already.
 func GetEnvPatchOperations(envs []corev1.EnvVar, addEnv []corev1.EnvVar, containerIdx int) []PatchOperation {
diff --git a/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch_test.go b/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch_test.go
index 15d1e744bfb..a798d9b21dc 100644
--- a/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch_test.go
+++ b/pkg/injector/sidecar/pod_patch_test.go
@@ -14,11 +14,14 @@ limitations under the License.
 package sidecar
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"strconv"
 	"testing"
 
+	jsonpatch "github.com/evanphx/json-patch/v5"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	coreV1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 
 	"github.com/dapr/dapr/pkg/injector/annotations"
 )
@@ -141,6 +144,67 @@ func TestAddDaprEnvVarsToContainers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestAddDaprInjectedLabel(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		testName  string
+		mockPod   coreV1.Pod
+		expLabels map[string]string
+	}{
+		{
+			testName: "empty labels",
+			mockPod: coreV1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{},
+			},
+			expLabels: map[string]string{SidecarInjectedLabel: "true"},
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "with some previous labels",
+			mockPod: coreV1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Labels: map[string]string{"app": "my-app"},
+				},
+			},
+			expLabels: map[string]string{SidecarInjectedLabel: "true", "app": "my-app"},
+		},
+		{
+			testName: "with dapr injected label already present",
+			mockPod: coreV1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Labels: map[string]string{SidecarInjectedLabel: "true", "app": "my-app"},
+				},
+			},
+			expLabels: map[string]string{SidecarInjectedLabel: "true", "app": "my-app"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		tc := tc // closure copy
+		t.Run(tc.testName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			newPodJSON := patchObject(t, tc.mockPod, []PatchOperation{AddDaprSideCarInjectedLabel(tc.mockPod.Labels)})
+			newPod := coreV1.Pod{}
+			assert.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal(newPodJSON, &newPod))
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.expLabels, newPod.Labels)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// patchObject executes a jsonpatch action against the object passed
+func patchObject(t *testing.T, origObj interface{}, patchOperations []PatchOperation) []byte {
+	marshal := func(o interface{}) []byte {
+		objBytes, err := json.Marshal(o)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		return objBytes
+	}
+
+	podJSON := marshal(origObj)
+	patchJSON := marshal(patchOperations)
+	decodedPatch, err := jsonpatch.DecodePatch(patchJSON)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	newJSON, err := decodedPatch.Apply(podJSON)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	return newJSON
+}
+
 func TestAddSocketVolumeToContainers(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		testName      string