diff --git a/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux.go b/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux.go
index 7dfc8c43ae..560d893d7e 100644
--- a/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux.go
+++ b/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"log"
 	"net"
+	"os"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
@@ -49,7 +50,8 @@ type connTrackMap map[connTrackKey]*connTrackEntry
 // connTrackEntry wraps a UDP connection to provide thread-safe [net.Conn.Write]
 // and [net.Conn.Close] operations.
 type connTrackEntry struct {
-	conn *net.UDPConn
+	conn  *net.UDPConn
+	lastW time.Time
 	// This lock should be held before calling Write or Close on the wrapped
 	// net.UDPConn. Read can be called concurrently to these operations.
 	//
@@ -64,6 +66,12 @@ func newConnTrackEntry(conn *net.UDPConn) *connTrackEntry {
 	}
 }
 
+func (cte *connTrackEntry) lastWrite() time.Time {
+	cte.mu.Lock()
+	defer cte.mu.Unlock()
+	return cte.lastW
+}
+
 // UDPProxy is proxy for which handles UDP datagrams. It implements the Proxy
 // interface to handle UDP traffic forwarding between the frontend and backend
 // addresses.
@@ -121,6 +129,15 @@ func (proxy *UDPProxy) replyLoop(cte *connTrackEntry, serverAddr net.IP, clientA
 				// expires:
 				goto again
 			}
+			// If the UDP connection is one-sided (i.e. the backend never sends
+			// replies), the connTrackEntry should not be GC'd until no writes
+			// happen for proxy.connTrackTimeout.
+			//
+			// Since the ReadDeadline is set to proxy.connTrackTimeout, in such
+			// case, the connTrackEntry will be GC'd at most after 2 * proxy.connTrackTimeout.
+			if errors.Is(err, os.ErrDeadlineExceeded) && time.Since(cte.lastWrite()) < proxy.connTrackTimeout {
+				continue
+			}
 			return
 		}
 		for i := 0; i != read; {
@@ -186,6 +203,7 @@ func (proxy *UDPProxy) Run() {
 				break
 			}
 			i += written
+			cte.lastW = time.Now()
 		}
 		cte.mu.Unlock()
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux_test.go b/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2f903d8b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/docker-proxy/udp_proxy_linux_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"gotest.tools/v3/assert"
+)
+
+// TestUDPOneSided makes sure that the conntrack entry isn't GC'd if the
+// backend never writes to the UDP client.
+func TestUDPOneSided(t *testing.T) {
+	frontend, err := net.ListenUDP("udp", &net.UDPAddr{IP: net.IPv4(127, 0, 0, 1), Port: 0})
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	defer frontend.Close()
+
+	backend, err := net.ListenUDP("udp", &net.UDPAddr{IP: net.IPv4(127, 0, 0, 1), Port: 0})
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	defer backend.Close()
+
+	type udpMsg struct {
+		data  []byte
+		saddr *net.UDPAddr
+	}
+	msgs := make(chan udpMsg)
+	go func() {
+		for {
+			buf := make([]byte, 1024)
+			n, saddr, err := backend.ReadFromUDP(buf)
+			if err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+			msgs <- udpMsg{data: buf[:n], saddr: saddr}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	proxy, err := NewUDPProxy(frontend, backend.LocalAddr().(*net.UDPAddr), ip4)
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	defer proxy.Close()
+
+	const connTrackTimeout = 1 * time.Second
+	proxy.connTrackTimeout = connTrackTimeout
+
+	go func() {
+		proxy.Run()
+	}()
+
+	client, err := net.DialUDP("udp", nil, frontend.LocalAddr().(*net.UDPAddr))
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	defer client.Close()
+
+	var expSaddr *net.UDPAddr
+	for i := range 15 {
+		_, err = client.Write([]byte("hello"))
+		assert.NilError(t, err)
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+
+		msg := <-msgs
+		assert.Equal(t, string(msg.data), "hello")
+		if i == 0 {
+			expSaddr = msg.saddr
+		} else {
+			assert.Equal(t, msg.saddr.Port, expSaddr.Port)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// The conntrack entry is checked every connTrackTimeout, but the latest
+	// write might be less than connTrackTimeout ago. So we need to wait for
+	// at least twice the conntrack timeout to make sure the entry is GC'd.
+	time.Sleep(2 * connTrackTimeout)
+	_, err = client.Write([]byte("hello"))
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+
+	msg := <-msgs
+	assert.Equal(t, string(msg.data), "hello")
+	assert.Check(t, msg.saddr.Port != expSaddr.Port)
+}