diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5d38cb66e5c..a6b03c8b762 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ To learn more about active deprecations, we recommend checking [GitHub Discussio
 - **General**: Check updated status for Fallback condition instead of ScaledObject ([#7488](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/7488))
 - **General**: Fix int64 overflow in milli-quantity conversion for very large metric values ([#7441](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/7441))
 - **General**: Fix ScaledObject admission webhook to return validation error from `verifyReplicaCount`, preventing invalid ScaledObjects from being created ([#5954](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/5954))
+- **General**: Fix ScaledObject created with paused annotation not properly transitioning to active when annotation is removed ([#6421](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/6421))
 - **Cron Scaler**: Fix metric name generation so cron expressions with comma-separated values no longer produce invalid metric names ([#7448](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/7448))
 - **External Scaler**: Fix context cancellation handling in `waitForState` of external scaler ([#7542](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/7542))
 - **Forgejo Scaler**: Limit HTTP error response logging ([#7469](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/7469))
diff --git a/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller.go b/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller.go
index 76b9add1a45..7356b5bd5e7 100755
--- a/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller.go
@@ -288,7 +288,18 @@ func (r *ScaledObjectReconciler) reconcileScaledObject(ctx context.Context, logg
 		}
 	case isPausedInStatus:
 		unpausedMessage := "pause annotation removed for ScaledObject"
+		// Write unpaused status FIRST before any operations that might trigger new
+		// reconciles or start the scale loop. This mirrors the pause path which writes
+		// Paused=True before stopping the scale loop. Without this, a race condition
+		// exists where the scale loop (started later in this reconcile via
+		// requestScaleLoop) reads the stale Paused=True condition and overwrites it
+		// back via a merge patch that replaces the entire conditions array.
+		// See: https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/6421
+		logger.Info("Setting Unpaused condition before starting scale loop")
 		conditions.SetPausedCondition(metav1.ConditionFalse, "ScaledObjectUnpaused", unpausedMessage)
+		if err := kedastatus.SetStatusConditions(ctx, r.Client, logger, scaledObject, conditions); err != nil {
+			return "failed to update unpaused status", err
+		}
 		r.EventEmitter.Emit(scaledObject, scaledObject.Namespace, corev1.EventTypeNormal, eventingv1alpha1.ScaledObjectUnpausedType, eventreason.ScaledObjectUnpaused, unpausedMessage)
 	}
 
diff --git a/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller_test.go b/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller_test.go
index e77a49a4759..255ce9a0efc 100644
--- a/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller_test.go
+++ b/controllers/keda/scaledobject_controller_test.go
@@ -1804,6 +1804,100 @@ var _ = Describe("ScaledObjectController", func() {
 		}).Should(HaveOccurred())
 	})
 
+	// Fix issue 6421
+	It("scaledobject created with paused annotation becomes active when annotation is removed", func() {
+		// Create the scaling target.
+		deploymentName := "initially-paused-then-unpaused"
+		soName := "so-" + deploymentName
+		err := k8sClient.Create(context.Background(), generateDeployment(deploymentName))
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+		// Create the ScaledObject with the paused annotation already set.
+		so := &kedav1alpha1.ScaledObject{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      soName,
+				Namespace: "default",
+				Annotations: map[string]string{
+					kedav1alpha1.PausedAnnotation: "true",
+				},
+			},
+			Spec: kedav1alpha1.ScaledObjectSpec{
+				ScaleTargetRef: &kedav1alpha1.ScaleTarget{
+					Name: deploymentName,
+				},
+				Advanced: &kedav1alpha1.AdvancedConfig{
+					HorizontalPodAutoscalerConfig: &kedav1alpha1.HorizontalPodAutoscalerConfig{},
+				},
+				Triggers: []kedav1alpha1.ScaleTriggers{
+					{
+						Type: "cron",
+						Metadata: map[string]string{
+							"timezone":        "UTC",
+							"start":           "0 * * * *",
+							"end":             "1 * * * *",
+							"desiredReplicas": "1",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		}
+		pollingInterval := int32(5)
+		so.Spec.PollingInterval = &pollingInterval
+		err = k8sClient.Create(context.Background(), so)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+		// Wait for Paused condition to become True.
+		Eventually(func() metav1.ConditionStatus {
+			err := k8sClient.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{Name: soName, Namespace: "default"}, so)
+			if err != nil {
+				return metav1.ConditionFalse
+			}
+			return so.Status.Conditions.GetPausedCondition().Status
+		}).WithTimeout(1 * time.Minute).WithPolling(2 * time.Second).Should(Equal(metav1.ConditionTrue))
+
+		// HPA should NOT exist while paused.
+		hpa := &autoscalingv2.HorizontalPodAutoscaler{}
+		Consistently(func() bool {
+			err := k8sClient.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{Name: fmt.Sprintf("keda-hpa-%s", soName), Namespace: "default"}, hpa)
+			return errors.IsNotFound(err)
+		}, 5*time.Second, 1*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
+
+		// Remove the paused annotation to unpause.
+		Eventually(func() error {
+			err = k8sClient.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{Name: soName, Namespace: "default"}, so)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			annotations := so.GetAnnotations()
+			delete(annotations, kedav1alpha1.PausedAnnotation)
+			so.SetAnnotations(annotations)
+			return k8sClient.Update(context.Background(), so)
+		}).WithTimeout(1 * time.Minute).WithPolling(5 * time.Second).ShouldNot(HaveOccurred())
+		testLogger.Info("paused annotation removed")
+
+		// Paused condition should become False.
+		Eventually(func() metav1.ConditionStatus {
+			err := k8sClient.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{Name: soName, Namespace: "default"}, so)
+			if err != nil {
+				return metav1.ConditionTrue
+			}
+			return so.Status.Conditions.GetPausedCondition().Status
+		}).WithTimeout(1 * time.Minute).WithPolling(2 * time.Second).Should(Equal(metav1.ConditionFalse))
+
+		// HPA should be created after unpausing.
+		Eventually(func() error {
+			return k8sClient.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{Name: fmt.Sprintf("keda-hpa-%s", soName), Namespace: "default"}, hpa)
+		}).WithTimeout(1 * time.Minute).WithPolling(2 * time.Second).ShouldNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+		// Crucially: Paused condition must STAY False and not flip back to True.
+		// This is the core assertion for issue #6421.
+		Consistently(func() metav1.ConditionStatus {
+			err := k8sClient.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{Name: soName, Namespace: "default"}, so)
+			if err != nil {
+				return metav1.ConditionTrue
+			}
+			return so.Status.Conditions.GetPausedCondition().Status
+		}, 15*time.Second, 2*time.Second).Should(Equal(metav1.ConditionFalse))
+	})
+
 	// Fix issue 5281
 	It("reconciles scaledobject when hpa spec is changed", func() {
 		var (