diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/group/impl/DistributedGroupStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/group/impl/DistributedGroupStore.java
index 23c1c9f..87355d6 100644
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/group/impl/DistributedGroupStore.java
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/group/impl/DistributedGroupStore.java
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY)
     protected DriverService driverService;
 
+    private NodeId local;
+
     private ScheduledExecutorService executor;
     private Consumer<Status> statusChangeListener;
     // Per device group table with (device id + app cookie) as key
@@ -250,6 +252,8 @@
         groupTopic = getOrCreateGroupTopic(serializer);
         groupTopic.subscribe(this::processGroupMessage);
 
+        local = clusterService.getLocalNode().id();
+
         log.info("Started");
     }
 
@@ -1390,6 +1394,7 @@
                 Sets.newHashSet(getStoredGroups(deviceId));
         Set<Group> extraneousStoredEntries =
                 Sets.newHashSet(getExtraneousGroups(deviceId));
+        NodeId master;
 
         if (log.isTraceEnabled()) {
             log.trace("pushGroupMetrics: Displaying all ({}) southboundGroupEntries for device {}",
@@ -1409,7 +1414,14 @@
 
         garbageCollect(deviceId, southboundGroupEntries, storedGroupEntries);
 
+        // update stats
         for (Iterator<Group> it2 = southboundGroupEntries.iterator(); it2.hasNext();) {
+            // Mastership change can occur during this iteration
+            master = mastershipService.getMasterFor(deviceId);
+            if (!Objects.equals(local, master)) {
+                log.warn("Tried to update the group stats while the node was not the master");
+                return;
+            }
             Group group = it2.next();
             if (storedGroupEntries.remove(group)) {
                 // we both have the group, let's update some info then.
@@ -1420,6 +1432,8 @@
                 it2.remove();
             }
         }
+
+        // extraneous groups in the dataplane
         for (Group group : southboundGroupEntries) {
             if (getGroup(group.deviceId(), group.id()) != null) {
                 // There is a group existing with the same id
@@ -1432,6 +1446,12 @@
                                      + "not present in key based table");
                 }
             } else {
+                // Mastership change can occur during this iteration
+                master = mastershipService.getMasterFor(deviceId);
+                if (!Objects.equals(local, master)) {
+                    log.warn("Tried to process extraneous groups while the node was not the master");
+                    return;
+                }
                 // there are groups in the switch that aren't in the store
                 log.debug("Group AUDIT: extraneous group {} exists in data plane for device {}",
                           group.id(), deviceId);
@@ -1443,13 +1463,29 @@
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        // missing groups in the dataplane
         for (StoredGroupEntry group : storedGroupEntries) {
+            // Mastership change can occur during this iteration
+            master = mastershipService.getMasterFor(deviceId);
+            if (!Objects.equals(local, master)) {
+                log.warn("Tried to process missing groups while the node was not the master");
+                return;
+            }
             // there are groups in the store that aren't in the switch
             log.debug("Group AUDIT: group {} missing in data plane for device {}",
                       group.id(), deviceId);
             groupMissing(group);
         }
+
+        // extraneous groups in the store
         for (Group group : extraneousStoredEntries) {
+            // Mastership change can occur during this iteration
+            master = mastershipService.getMasterFor(deviceId);
+            if (!Objects.equals(local, master)) {
+                log.warn("Tried to process node extraneous groups while the node was not the master");
+                return;
+            }
             // there are groups in the extraneous store that
             // aren't in the switch
             log.debug("Group AUDIT: clearing extraneous group {} from store for device {}",
@@ -1481,8 +1517,15 @@
             return;
         }
 
+        NodeId master;
         Iterator<StoredGroupEntry> it = storedGroupEntries.iterator();
         while (it.hasNext()) {
+            // Mastership change can occur during this iteration
+            master = mastershipService.getMasterFor(deviceId);
+            if (!Objects.equals(local, master)) {
+                log.warn("Tried to run garbage collector while the node was not the master");
+                return;
+            }
             StoredGroupEntry group = it.next();
             if (group.state() != GroupState.PENDING_DELETE && checkGroupRefCount(group)) {
                 log.debug("Garbage collecting group {} on {}", group, deviceId);