diff --git a/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main.go b/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main.go
index 3b8a0168e6e..bc69aced37f 100644
--- a/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main.go
+++ b/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
+	"regexp"
 	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -47,6 +48,10 @@ const (
 	listURL        = "https://github.com/openshift/release/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aopenshift-bot+prow+job+dispatcher+in%3Atitle+is%3Aopen"
 )
 
+var blockedClusterRelocationJobExceptions = []*regexp.Regexp{
+	regexp.MustCompile(`^periodic-build[0-9]{2}-upgrade$`),
+}
+
 type options struct {
 	prowJobConfigDir  string
 	configPath        string
@@ -275,6 +280,25 @@ func extractCapabilities(labels map[string]string) []string {
 	return capabilities
 }
 
+func isBlockedClusterRelocationException(jobName string) bool {
+	for _, re := range blockedClusterRelocationJobExceptions {
+		if re.MatchString(jobName) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func blockedClustersForJob(jobName string, determinedCluster string, blocked sets.Set[string]) sets.Set[string] {
+	if !blocked.Has(determinedCluster) || !isBlockedClusterRelocationException(jobName) {
+		return blocked
+	}
+
+	filteredBlocked := blocked.Clone()
+	filteredBlocked.Delete(determinedCluster)
+	return filteredBlocked
+}
+
 func findClusterAssigmentsForJobs(jc *prowconfig.JobConfig, path string, config *dispatcher.Config, pjs map[string]dispatcher.ProwJobData, blocked sets.Set[string], cm dispatcher.ClusterMap) error {
 	mostUsedCluster := dispatcher.FindMostUsedCluster(jc)
 
@@ -284,7 +308,8 @@ func findClusterAssigmentsForJobs(jc *prowconfig.JobConfig, path string, config
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine cluster for the job %s in path %q: %w", jobBase.Name, path, err)
 		}
 
-		c := dispatcher.DetermineTargetCluster(cluster, string(determinedCluster), string(config.Default), canBeRelocated, blocked)
+		blockedForJob := blockedClustersForJob(jobBase.Name, string(determinedCluster), blocked)
+		c := dispatcher.DetermineTargetCluster(cluster, string(determinedCluster), string(config.Default), canBeRelocated, blockedForJob)
 		pjs[jobBase.Name] = dispatcher.ProwJobData{Cluster: c, Capabilities: extractCapabilities(jobBase.Labels)}
 		logrus.WithField("job", jobBase.Name).WithField("cluster", c).Info("found cluster for job")
 		return nil
@@ -328,7 +353,8 @@ func (cv *clusterVolume) addToVolume(cluster string, jobBase prowconfig.JobBase,
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine cluster for the job %s in path %q: %w", jobBase.Name, path, err)
 	}
 
-	c := dispatcher.DetermineTargetCluster(cluster, string(determinedCluster), string(config.Default), canBeRelocated, cv.blocked)
+	blockedForJob := blockedClustersForJob(jobBase.Name, string(determinedCluster), cv.blocked)
+	c := dispatcher.DetermineTargetCluster(cluster, string(determinedCluster), string(config.Default), canBeRelocated, blockedForJob)
 	cv.pjs[jobBase.Name] = dispatcher.ProwJobData{Cluster: c, Capabilities: extractCapabilities(jobBase.Labels)}
 	if determinedCloudProvider := config.IsInBuildFarm(api.Cluster(c)); determinedCloudProvider != "" {
 		cv.clusterVolumeMap[string(determinedCloudProvider)][c] = cv.clusterVolumeMap[string(determinedCloudProvider)][c] + jobVolumes[jobBase.Name]
diff --git a/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main_test.go b/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main_test.go
index 3111e94b778..2d784079e3e 100644
--- a/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/prow-job-dispatcher/main_test.go
@@ -477,6 +477,100 @@ func TestDispatchDeltaJobs(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestBlockedClustersForJob(t *testing.T) {
+	blocked := sets.New[string]("build01", "build02")
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name              string
+		jobName           string
+		determinedCluster string
+		expectedBlocked   sets.Set[string]
+	}{
+		{
+			name:              "keeps blocked clusters for non-matching job",
+			jobName:           "periodic-something-else",
+			determinedCluster: "build01",
+			expectedBlocked:   sets.New[string]("build01", "build02"),
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "removes determined cluster for matching upgrade job",
+			jobName:           "periodic-build01-upgrade",
+			determinedCluster: "build01",
+			expectedBlocked:   sets.New[string]("build02"),
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "keeps blocked clusters when determined cluster not blocked",
+			jobName:           "periodic-build77-upgrade",
+			determinedCluster: "build77",
+			expectedBlocked:   sets.New[string]("build01", "build02"),
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			actual := blockedClustersForJob(tc.jobName, tc.determinedCluster, blocked)
+			if !actual.Equal(tc.expectedBlocked) {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected blocked set. expected=%v actual=%v", tc.expectedBlocked.UnsortedList(), actual.UnsortedList())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAddToVolumeSkipsBlockedRelocationForMatchingUpgradePeriodic(t *testing.T) {
+	config := &dispatcher.Config{
+		Default: "api.ci",
+		BuildFarm: map[api.Cloud]map[api.Cluster]*dispatcher.BuildFarmConfig{
+			api.CloudAWS: {
+				"build01": {},
+			},
+			api.CloudGCP: {
+				"build02": {},
+			},
+		},
+		Groups: map[api.Cluster]dispatcher.Group{
+			"build01": {
+				Jobs: []string{"periodic-build01-upgrade", "periodic-something-else"},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	cv := &clusterVolume{
+		clusterVolumeMap: map[string]map[string]float64{
+			"aws": {"build01": 0},
+			"gcp": {"build02": 0},
+		},
+		cloudProviders: sets.New[string]("aws", "gcp"),
+		pjs:            map[string]dispatcher.ProwJobData{},
+		blocked:        sets.New[string]("build01"),
+		specialClusters: map[string]float64{
+			"api.ci": 0,
+		},
+		clusterMap: dispatcher.ClusterMap{
+			"build01": {Capacity: 100},
+			"build02": {Capacity: 100},
+		},
+	}
+
+	jobVolumes := map[string]float64{
+		"periodic-build01-upgrade": 1,
+		"periodic-something-else":  1,
+	}
+
+	if err := cv.addToVolume("build02", prowconfig.JobBase{Name: "periodic-build01-upgrade"}, "foo-periodics.yaml", config, jobVolumes); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("addToVolume returned error for matching periodic: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := cv.addToVolume("build02", prowconfig.JobBase{Name: "periodic-something-else"}, "foo-periodics.yaml", config, jobVolumes); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("addToVolume returned error for non-matching periodic: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if got := cv.pjs["periodic-build01-upgrade"].Cluster; got != "build01" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected matching periodic to stay on determined blocked cluster build01, got %s", got)
+	}
+	if got := cv.pjs["periodic-something-else"].Cluster; got != "build02" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected non-matching periodic to be relocated to build02, got %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
 type fakeSlackClient struct {
 }