diff --git a/sky/skylet/autostop_lib.py b/sky/skylet/autostop_lib.py
index 687c04f5211..130e39fb425 100644
--- a/sky/skylet/autostop_lib.py
+++ b/sky/skylet/autostop_lib.py
@@ -75,10 +75,16 @@ def set_autostopping_started() -> None:
     configs.set_config(_AUTOSTOP_INDICATOR, str(psutil.boot_time()))
 
 
-def get_is_autostopping_payload() -> str:
+def get_is_autostopping() -> bool:
     """Returns whether the cluster is in the process of autostopping."""
     result = configs.get_config(_AUTOSTOP_INDICATOR)
     is_autostopping = (result == str(psutil.boot_time()))
+    return is_autostopping
+
+
+def get_is_autostopping_payload() -> str:
+    """Payload for whether the cluster is in the process of autostopping."""
+    is_autostopping = get_is_autostopping()
     return common_utils.encode_payload(is_autostopping)
 
 
diff --git a/sky/skylet/providers/azure/config.py b/sky/skylet/providers/azure/config.py
index 0c1827a1141..a19273761ba 100644
--- a/sky/skylet/providers/azure/config.py
+++ b/sky/skylet/providers/azure/config.py
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ def _configure_resource_group(config):
     create_or_update = get_azure_sdk_function(
         client=resource_client.deployments, function_name="create_or_update"
     )
+    # TODO (skypilot): this takes a long time (> 40 seconds) for stopping an
+    # azure VM, and this can be called twice during ray down.
     outputs = (
         create_or_update(
             resource_group_name=resource_group,
diff --git a/sky/skylet/providers/azure/node_provider.py b/sky/skylet/providers/azure/node_provider.py
index 4b315f23589..068930eb390 100644
--- a/sky/skylet/providers/azure/node_provider.py
+++ b/sky/skylet/providers/azure/node_provider.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     bootstrap_azure,
     get_azure_sdk_function,
 )
+from sky.skylet import autostop_lib
 from sky.skylet.providers.command_runner import SkyDockerCommandRunner
 from sky.provision import docker_utils
 
@@ -61,16 +62,23 @@ class AzureNodeProvider(NodeProvider):
 
     def __init__(self, provider_config, cluster_name):
         NodeProvider.__init__(self, provider_config, cluster_name)
-        # TODO(suquark): This is a temporary patch for resource group.
-        # By default, Ray autoscaler assumes the resource group is still here even
-        # after the whole cluster is destroyed. However, now we deletes the resource
-        # group after tearing down the cluster. To comfort the autoscaler, we need
-        # to create/update it here, so the resource group always exists.
-        from sky.skylet.providers.azure.config import _configure_resource_group
-
-        _configure_resource_group(
-            {"cluster_name": cluster_name, "provider": provider_config}
-        )
+        if not autostop_lib.get_is_autostopping():
+            # TODO(suquark): This is a temporary patch for resource group.
+            # By default, Ray autoscaler assumes the resource group is still
+            # here even after the whole cluster is destroyed. However, now we
+            # deletes the resource group after tearing down the cluster. To
+            # comfort the autoscaler, we need to create/update it here, so the
+            # resource group always exists.
+            #
+            # We should not re-configure the resource group again, when it is
+            # running on the remote VM and the autostopping is in progress,
+            # because the VM is running which guarantees the resource group
+            # exists.
+            from sky.skylet.providers.azure.config import _configure_resource_group
+
+            _configure_resource_group(
+                {"cluster_name": cluster_name, "provider": provider_config}
+            )
         subscription_id = provider_config["subscription_id"]
         self.cache_stopped_nodes = provider_config.get("cache_stopped_nodes", True)
         # Sky only supports Azure CLI credential for now.