diff --git a/pkg/kube/client.go b/pkg/kube/client.go
index eccf888e8..955c75ab1 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/client.go
+++ b/pkg/kube/client.go
@@ -23,12 +23,13 @@ import (
 	goerrors "errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"log"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
+
 	"github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	appsv1beta1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1"
@@ -362,8 +363,9 @@ func (c *Client) Update(namespace string, originalReader, targetReader io.Reader
 		if err != nil {
 			c.Log("Unable to get annotations on %q, err: %s", info.Name, err)
 		}
-		if annotations != nil && annotations[ResourcePolicyAnno] == KeepPolicy {
-			c.Log("Skipping delete of %q due to annotation [%s=%s]", info.Name, ResourcePolicyAnno, KeepPolicy)
+		if ResourcePolicyIsKeep(annotations) {
+			policy := annotations[ResourcePolicyAnno]
+			c.Log("Skipping delete of %q due to annotation [%s=%s]", info.Name, ResourcePolicyAnno, policy)
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/kube/resource_policy.go b/pkg/kube/resource_policy.go
index 45cebcba8..9bce63a7c 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/resource_policy.go
+++ b/pkg/kube/resource_policy.go
@@ -19,8 +19,23 @@ package kube
 // ResourcePolicyAnno is the annotation name for a resource policy
 const ResourcePolicyAnno = "helm.sh/resource-policy"
 
-// KeepPolicy is the resource policy type for keep
+// deletePolicy is the resource policy type for delete
 //
-// This resource policy type allows resources to skip being deleted
-//   during an uninstallRelease action.
-const KeepPolicy = "keep"
+// This resource policy type allows explicitly opting in to the default
+//   resource deletion behavior, for example when overriding a chart's
+//   default annotations. Any other value allows resources to skip being
+//   deleted during an uninstallRelease action.
+const deletePolicy = "delete"
+
+// ResourcePolicyIsKeep accepts a map of Kubernetes resource annotations and
+//   returns true if the resource should be kept, otherwise false if it is safe
+//   for Helm to delete.
+func ResourcePolicyIsKeep(annotations map[string]string) bool {
+	if annotations != nil {
+		resourcePolicyType, ok := annotations[ResourcePolicyAnno]
+		if ok && resourcePolicyType != deletePolicy {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/pkg/tiller/resource_policy.go b/pkg/tiller/resource_policy.go
index aa9c5d2bd..c97621fcd 100644
--- a/pkg/tiller/resource_policy.go
+++ b/pkg/tiller/resource_policy.go
@@ -34,17 +34,11 @@ func filterManifestsToKeep(manifests []Manifest) ([]Manifest, []Manifest) {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		resourcePolicyType, ok := m.Head.Metadata.Annotations[kube.ResourcePolicyAnno]
-		if !ok {
-			remaining = append(remaining, m)
-			continue
-		}
-
-		resourcePolicyType = strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(resourcePolicyType))
-		if resourcePolicyType == kube.KeepPolicy {
+		if kube.ResourcePolicyIsKeep(m.Head.Metadata.Annotations) {
 			keep = append(keep, m)
+		} else {
+			remaining = append(remaining, m)
 		}
-
 	}
 	return keep, remaining
 }