diff --git a/hudi-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/DefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java b/hudi-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/DefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java
index eae2f58af9440..daa1dcb0207ff 100644
--- a/hudi-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/DefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java
+++ b/hudi-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/DefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import org.apache.hudi.common.util.Option;
 import org.apache.hudi.common.util.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.hudi.common.util.ValidationUtils;
+import org.apache.hudi.exception.HoodieIOException;
 import org.apache.hudi.keygen.constant.KeyGeneratorOptions;
 
 import org.apache.avro.Schema;
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
 /**
  * {@link HoodieRecordPayload} impl that honors ordering field in both preCombine and combineAndGetUpdateValue.
@@ -44,6 +46,8 @@ public class DefaultHoodieRecordPayload extends OverwriteWithLatestAvroPayload {
   public static final String DELETE_KEY = "hoodie.payload.delete.field";
   public static final String DELETE_MARKER = "hoodie.payload.delete.marker";
   private Option<Object> eventTime = Option.empty();
+  private AtomicBoolean isDeleteComputed = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+  private boolean isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted = false;
 
   public DefaultHoodieRecordPayload(GenericRecord record, Comparable orderingVal) {
     super(record, orderingVal);
@@ -72,10 +76,13 @@ public Option<IndexedRecord> combineAndGetUpdateValue(IndexedRecord currentValue
      */
     eventTime = updateEventTime(incomingRecord, properties);
 
+    if (!isDeleteComputed.getAndSet(true)) {
+      isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted = isDeleteRecord(incomingRecord, properties);
+    }
     /*
      * Now check if the incoming record is a delete record.
      */
-    return isDeleteRecord(incomingRecord, properties) ? Option.empty() : Option.of(incomingRecord);
+    return isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted ? Option.empty() : Option.of(incomingRecord);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -86,7 +93,25 @@ public Option<IndexedRecord> getInsertValue(Schema schema, Properties properties
     GenericRecord incomingRecord = HoodieAvroUtils.bytesToAvro(recordBytes, schema);
     eventTime = updateEventTime(incomingRecord, properties);
 
-    return isDeleteRecord(incomingRecord, properties) ? Option.empty() : Option.of(incomingRecord);
+    if (!isDeleteComputed.getAndSet(true)) {
+      isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted = isDeleteRecord(incomingRecord, properties);
+    }
+    return isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted ? Option.empty() : Option.of(incomingRecord);
+  }
+
+  public boolean isDeleted(Schema schema, Properties props) {
+    if (recordBytes.length == 0) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    try {
+      if (!isDeleteComputed.getAndSet(true)) {
+        GenericRecord incomingRecord = HoodieAvroUtils.bytesToAvro(recordBytes, schema);
+        isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted = isDeleteRecord(incomingRecord, props);
+      }
+      return isDefaultRecordPayloadDeleted;
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new HoodieIOException("Deserializing bytes to avro failed ", e);
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/hudi-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/TestDefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java b/hudi-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/TestDefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java
index 1cb146ec97e70..6fdb85c29f1c7 100644
--- a/hudi-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/TestDefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java
+++ b/hudi-common/src/test/java/org/apache/hudi/common/model/TestDefaultHoodieRecordPayload.java
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ public void testDeletedRecord(String key) throws IOException {
 
     DefaultHoodieRecordPayload payload1 = new DefaultHoodieRecordPayload(record1, 1);
     DefaultHoodieRecordPayload payload2 = new DefaultHoodieRecordPayload(delRecord1, 2);
+    assertFalse(payload1.isDeleted(schema, props));
+    assertTrue(payload2.isDeleted(schema, props));
     assertEquals(payload1.preCombine(payload2, props), payload2);
     assertEquals(payload2.preCombine(payload1, props), payload2);
 
@@ -145,9 +147,13 @@ public void testDeleteKey() throws IOException {
     DefaultHoodieRecordPayload deletePayload = new DefaultHoodieRecordPayload(delRecord, 2);
     DefaultHoodieRecordPayload defaultDeletePayload = new DefaultHoodieRecordPayload(defaultDeleteRecord, 2);
 
+    assertFalse(payload.isDeleted(schema, props));
+    assertTrue(deletePayload.isDeleted(schema, props));
+    assertFalse(defaultDeletePayload.isDeleted(schema, props)); // if custom marker is present, should honor that irrespective of hoodie_is_deleted
+
     assertEquals(record, payload.getInsertValue(schema, props).get());
-    assertEquals(defaultDeleteRecord, defaultDeletePayload.getInsertValue(schema, props).get());
     assertFalse(deletePayload.getInsertValue(schema, props).isPresent());
+    assertTrue(defaultDeletePayload.getInsertValue(schema, props).isPresent()); // if custom marker is present, should honor that irrespective of hoodie_is_deleted
 
     assertEquals(delRecord, payload.combineAndGetUpdateValue(delRecord, schema, props).get());
     assertEquals(defaultDeleteRecord, payload.combineAndGetUpdateValue(defaultDeleteRecord, schema, props).get());
@@ -174,6 +180,7 @@ public void testDeleteKeyConfiguration() throws IOException {
     }
 
     try {
+      payload = new DefaultHoodieRecordPayload(record, 1);
       payload.combineAndGetUpdateValue(record, schema, props).get();
       fail("Should fail");
     } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {