diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel.go b/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel.go
index 2a1b6ba1db5..9ae3af5bb12 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel.go
@@ -131,17 +131,17 @@ func (r *Reconciler) reconcileBackingChannelEventPolicies(ctx context.Context, c
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not get applying EventPolicies for for channel %s/%s: %w", channel.Namespace, channel.Name, err)
 	}
 
+	// map to keep track of which policies are still applying
+	// the idea is to maintain a map of applying policies to check which policies are outdated.
+	// if a backing channel policy is not in the map, it is outdated and should be deleted.
+	applyingEventPoliciesForChannelMap := make(map[string]string, len(applyingEventPoliciesForChannel))
+
 	for _, policy := range applyingEventPoliciesForChannel {
 		err := r.reconcileBackingChannelEventPolicy(ctx, backingChannel, policy)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not reconcile EventPolicy %s/%s for backing channel %s/%s: %w", policy.Namespace, policy.Name, backingChannel.Namespace, backingChannel.Name, err)
 		}
-	}
-
-	// Check, if we have old EP for the backing channel, which are not relevant anymore
-	applyingEventPoliciesForBackingChannel, err := auth.GetEventPoliciesForResource(r.eventPolicyLister, backingChannel.GroupVersionKind(), backingChannel.ObjectMeta)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not get applying EventPolicies for for backing channel %s/%s: %w", channel.Namespace, channel.Name, err)
+		applyingEventPoliciesForChannelMap[resources.GetEventPolicyNameForBackingChannel(backingChannel.Name, policy.Name)] = policy.Name
 	}
 
 	selector, err := labels.ValidatedSelectorFromSet(resources.LabelsForBackingChannelsEventPolicy(backingChannel))
@@ -155,8 +155,7 @@ func (r *Reconciler) reconcileBackingChannelEventPolicies(ctx context.Context, c
 	}
 
 	for _, policy := range existingEventPoliciesForBackingChannel {
-		if !r.containsPolicy(policy.Name, applyingEventPoliciesForBackingChannel) {
-
+		if _, ok := applyingEventPoliciesForChannelMap[policy.Name]; !ok {
 			// the existing policy is not in the list of applying policies anymore --> is outdated --> delete it
 			err := r.eventingClientSet.EventingV1alpha1().EventPolicies(policy.Namespace).Delete(ctx, policy.Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{})
 			if err != nil && apierrs.IsNotFound(err) {
@@ -190,15 +189,6 @@ func (r *Reconciler) reconcileBackingChannelEventPolicy(ctx context.Context, bac
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (r *Reconciler) containsPolicy(name string, policies []*eventingv1alpha1.EventPolicy) bool {
-	for _, policy := range policies {
-		if policy.Name == name {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
 func (r *Reconciler) policyNeedsUpdate(foundEP, expected *eventingv1alpha1.EventPolicy) bool {
 	return !equality.Semantic.DeepDerivative(expected, foundEP)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel_test.go b/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel_test.go
index 7df891b7e8f..3e77269a502 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/channel/channel_test.go
@@ -589,6 +589,67 @@ func TestReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 				}),
 			),
 		},
+	}, {
+		Name: "should delete EventPolicies for backing channel",
+		Key:  testKey,
+		Objects: []runtime.Object{
+			NewChannel(channelName, testNS,
+				WithChannelTemplate(channelCRD()),
+				WithInitChannelConditions,
+				WithChannelEventPoliciesReady(),
+				WithChannelEventPoliciesListed(readyEventPolicyName)),
+			NewInMemoryChannel(channelName, testNS,
+				WithInitInMemoryChannelConditions,
+				WithInMemoryChannelDeploymentReady(),
+				WithInMemoryChannelServiceReady(),
+				WithInMemoryChannelEndpointsReady(),
+				WithInMemoryChannelChannelServiceReady(),
+				WithInMemoryChannelAddress(backingChannelAddressable),
+				WithInMemoryChannelDLSUnknown(),
+				WithInMemoryChannelEventPoliciesReady()),
+			NewEventPolicy(fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", readyEventPolicyName, channelName), testNS,
+				WithEventPolicyToRef(imcV1GVK, channelName),
+				WithEventPolicyOwnerReferences([]metav1.OwnerReference{
+					{
+						APIVersion: v1.SchemeGroupVersion.String(),
+						Kind:       "InMemoryChannel",
+						Name:       channelName,
+					}, {
+						APIVersion: eventingv1alpha1.SchemeGroupVersion.String(),
+						Kind:       "EventPolicy",
+						Name:       readyEventPolicyName,
+					},
+				}...),
+				WithEventPolicyLabels(map[string]string{
+					"messaging.knative.dev/channel-group":   v1.SchemeGroupVersion.Group,
+					"messaging.knative.dev/channel-version": v1.SchemeGroupVersion.Version,
+					"messaging.knative.dev/channel-kind":    "InMemoryChannel",
+					"messaging.knative.dev/channel-name":    channelName,
+				}),
+			),
+		},
+		WantStatusUpdates: []clientgotesting.UpdateActionImpl{{
+			Object: NewChannel(channelName, testNS,
+				WithChannelTemplate(channelCRD()),
+				WithInitChannelConditions,
+				WithBackingChannelObjRef(backingChannelObjRef()),
+				WithBackingChannelReady,
+				WithChannelDLSUnknown(),
+				WithChannelAddress(&backingChannelAddressable),
+				WithChannelEventPoliciesReadyBecauseNoPolicyAndOIDCEnabled(),
+			),
+		}},
+		WantDeletes: []clientgotesting.DeleteActionImpl{{
+			ActionImpl: clientgotesting.ActionImpl{
+				Namespace: testNS,
+				Resource:  eventingv1alpha1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource("eventpolicies"),
+			},
+			Name: fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", readyEventPolicyName, channelName),
+		}},
+		Ctx: feature.ToContext(context.Background(), feature.Flags{
+			feature.OIDCAuthentication:       feature.Enabled,
+			feature.AuthorizationDefaultMode: feature.AuthorizationAllowSameNamespace,
+		}),
 	}}
 
 	logger := logtesting.TestLogger(t)
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/channel/resources/eventpolicy.go b/pkg/reconciler/channel/resources/eventpolicy.go
index 23f08217e59..fe2d021fa9b 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/channel/resources/eventpolicy.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/channel/resources/eventpolicy.go
@@ -29,13 +29,17 @@ const (
 	BackingChannelEventPolicyLabelPrefix = "messaging.knative.dev/"
 )
 
+func GetEventPolicyNameForBackingChannel(backingChannelName, parentPolicyName string) string {
+	return kmeta.ChildName(fmt.Sprintf("%s-", parentPolicyName), backingChannelName)
+}
+
 func MakeEventPolicyForBackingChannel(backingChannel *eventingduckv1.Channelable, parentPolicy *eventingv1alpha1.EventPolicy) *eventingv1alpha1.EventPolicy {
 	parentPolicy = parentPolicy.DeepCopy()
 
 	return &eventingv1alpha1.EventPolicy{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Namespace: backingChannel.Namespace,
-			Name:      kmeta.ChildName(fmt.Sprintf("%s-", parentPolicy.Name), backingChannel.Name),
+			Name:      GetEventPolicyNameForBackingChannel(backingChannel.Name, parentPolicy.Name),
 			OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{
 				{
 					APIVersion: backingChannel.APIVersion,