diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 7f80758..855801e 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ func main() {
 	var probeAddr string
 	var rejectEmptyNodeDisruption bool
 	var retryInterval time.Duration
+	var rejectOverlappingDisruption bool
 	flag.StringVar(&metricsAddr, "metrics-bind-address", ":8080", "The address the metric endpoint binds to.")
 	flag.StringVar(&probeAddr, "health-probe-bind-address", ":8081", "The address the probe endpoint binds to.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&enableLeaderElection, "leader-elect", false,
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ func main() {
 			"Enabling this will ensure there is only one active controller manager.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&rejectEmptyNodeDisruption, "reject-empty-node-disruption", false, "Reject NodeDisruption matching no actual node.")
 	flag.DurationVar(&retryInterval, "retry-interval", controller.DefaultRetryInterval, "How long to wait between each retry (Default 60s)")
+	flag.BoolVar(&rejectOverlappingDisruption, "reject-overlapping-disruption", false, "Automatically reject any overlapping NodeDisruption (based on node selector), preserving the oldest one")
 
 	opts := zap.Options{
 		Development: true,
@@ -99,8 +101,9 @@ func main() {
 		Client: mgr.GetClient(),
 		Scheme: mgr.GetScheme(),
 		Config: controller.NodeDisruptionReconcilerConfig{
-			RejectEmptyNodeDisruption: rejectEmptyNodeDisruption,
-			RetryInterval:             retryInterval,
+			RejectEmptyNodeDisruption:   rejectEmptyNodeDisruption,
+			RetryInterval:               retryInterval,
+			RejectOverlappingDisruption: rejectOverlappingDisruption,
 		},
 	}).SetupWithManager(mgr); err != nil {
 		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create controller", "controller", "NodeDisruption")
diff --git a/internal/controller/nodedisruption_controller.go b/internal/controller/nodedisruption_controller.go
index 06e0dfa..50e330d 100644
--- a/internal/controller/nodedisruption_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/nodedisruption_controller.go
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ type NodeDisruptionReconcilerConfig struct {
 	RejectEmptyNodeDisruption bool
 	// How long to retry between each validation attempt
 	RetryInterval time.Duration
+	// Reject NodeDisruption if its node selector overlaps an older NodeDisruption's selector
+	RejectOverlappingDisruption bool
 }
 
 // NodeDisruptionReconciler reconciles NodeDisruptions
@@ -211,7 +213,7 @@ func (ndr *SingleNodeDisruptionReconciler) UpdateStatus(ctx context.Context) err
 
 // ValidateInternalConstraints check that the Node Disruption is valid against internal constraints
 // such as deadline or constraints on number of impacted nodes
-func (ndr *SingleNodeDisruptionReconciler) ValidateWithInternalConstraints(_ context.Context) (anyFailed bool, statuses []nodedisruptionv1alpha1.DisruptedBudgetStatus) {
+func (ndr *SingleNodeDisruptionReconciler) ValidateWithInternalConstraints(ctx context.Context) (anyFailed bool, statuses []nodedisruptionv1alpha1.DisruptedBudgetStatus) {
 	disruptedNodes := resolver.NewNodeSetFromStringList(ndr.NodeDisruption.Status.DisruptedNodes)
 
 	if ndr.Config.RejectEmptyNodeDisruption && disruptedNodes.Len() == 0 {
@@ -228,6 +230,30 @@ func (ndr *SingleNodeDisruptionReconciler) ValidateWithInternalConstraints(_ con
 		}
 	}
 
+	allDisruptions := &nodedisruptionv1alpha1.NodeDisruptionList{}
+	ndr.Client.List(ctx, allDisruptions) // TODO handle error here
+	for _, otherDisruption := range allDisruptions.Items {
+		if otherDisruption.Name == ndr.NodeDisruption.Name {
+			continue
+		}
+		if otherDisruption.Status.State == nodedisruptionv1alpha1.Pending || otherDisruption.Status.State == nodedisruptionv1alpha1.Granted {
+			otherDisruptedNodes := resolver.NewNodeSetFromStringList(otherDisruption.Status.DisruptedNodes)
+			if otherDisruptedNodes.Intersection(disruptedNodes).Len() > 0 {
+				return true, []nodedisruptionv1alpha1.DisruptedBudgetStatus{
+					{
+						Reference: nodedisruptionv1alpha1.NamespacedName{
+							Namespace: ndr.NodeDisruption.Namespace,
+							Name:      ndr.NodeDisruption.Name,
+							Kind:      ndr.NodeDisruption.Kind,
+						},
+						Reason: fmt.Sprintf(`Selected node(s) overlap with another disruption: ”%s"`, otherDisruption.Name),
+						Ok:     false,
+					},
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	if ndr.NodeDisruption.Spec.Retry.IsAfterDeadline() {
 		return true, []nodedisruptionv1alpha1.DisruptedBudgetStatus{
 			{