diff --git a/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/recommender/routines/recommender.go b/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/recommender/routines/recommender.go
index bf3060e6202b..4a87b21cf778 100644
--- a/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/recommender/routines/recommender.go
+++ b/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/recommender/routines/recommender.go
@@ -149,8 +149,6 @@ func (r *recommender) RunOnce() {
 	defer timer.ObserveTotal()
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	ctx, cancelFunc := context.WithDeadline(ctx, time.Now().Add(*checkpointsWriteTimeout))
-	defer cancelFunc()
 
 	klog.V(3).Infof("Recommender Run")
 
@@ -167,7 +165,9 @@ func (r *recommender) RunOnce() {
 	r.UpdateVPAs()
 	timer.ObserveStep("UpdateVPAs")
 
-	r.MaintainCheckpoints(ctx, *minCheckpointsPerRun)
+	stepCtx, cancelFunc := context.WithDeadline(ctx, time.Now().Add(*checkpointsWriteTimeout))
+	defer cancelFunc()
+	r.MaintainCheckpoints(stepCtx, *minCheckpointsPerRun)
 	timer.ObserveStep("MaintainCheckpoints")
 
 	r.clusterState.RateLimitedGarbageCollectAggregateCollectionStates(ctx, time.Now(), r.controllerFetcher)