diff --git a/client/allocrunner/csi_hook.go b/client/allocrunner/csi_hook.go
index 3f6673635..88eaddaec 100644
--- a/client/allocrunner/csi_hook.go
+++ b/client/allocrunner/csi_hook.go
@@ -86,12 +86,19 @@ func (c *csiHook) Postrun() error {
 	var mErr *multierror.Error
 
 	for _, pair := range c.volumeRequests {
+
+		mode := structs.CSIVolumeClaimRead
+		if !pair.request.ReadOnly {
+			mode = structs.CSIVolumeClaimWrite
+		}
+
 		req := &structs.CSIVolumeUnpublishRequest{
 			VolumeID: pair.request.Source,
 			Claim: &structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 				AllocationID: c.alloc.ID,
 				NodeID:       c.alloc.NodeID,
-				Mode:         structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
+				Mode:         mode,
+				State:        structs.CSIVolumeClaimStateUnpublishing,
 			},
 			WriteRequest: structs.WriteRequest{
 				Region:    c.alloc.Job.Region,
diff --git a/command/agent/csi_endpoint.go b/command/agent/csi_endpoint.go
index d3f6a2c42..028a5ccee 100644
--- a/command/agent/csi_endpoint.go
+++ b/command/agent/csi_endpoint.go
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ func (s *HTTPServer) csiVolumeDetach(id string, resp http.ResponseWriter, req *h
 		VolumeID: id,
 		Claim: &structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 			NodeID: nodeID,
-			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
+			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimGC,
 		},
 	}
 	s.parseWriteRequest(req, &args.WriteRequest)
diff --git a/nomad/core_sched.go b/nomad/core_sched.go
index 1ac135d0a..1b67f25d6 100644
--- a/nomad/core_sched.go
+++ b/nomad/core_sched.go
@@ -723,7 +723,8 @@ func (c *CoreScheduler) csiVolumeClaimGC(eval *structs.Evaluation) error {
 	gcClaims := func(ns, volID string) error {
 		req := &structs.CSIVolumeClaimRequest{
 			VolumeID: volID,
-			Claim:    structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
+			Claim:    structs.CSIVolumeClaimGC,
+			State:    structs.CSIVolumeClaimStateUnpublishing,
 			WriteRequest: structs.WriteRequest{
 				Namespace: ns,
 				Region:    c.srv.Region(),
diff --git a/nomad/csi_endpoint.go b/nomad/csi_endpoint.go
index 78655f4a8..a88d24c0a 100644
--- a/nomad/csi_endpoint.go
+++ b/nomad/csi_endpoint.go
@@ -368,10 +368,13 @@ func (v *CSIVolume) Claim(args *structs.CSIVolumeClaimRequest, reply *structs.CS
 		return fmt.Errorf("missing volume ID")
 	}
 
+	isNewClaim := args.Claim != structs.CSIVolumeClaimGC &&
+		args.State == structs.CSIVolumeClaimStateTaken
+
 	// COMPAT(1.0): the NodeID field was added after 0.11.0 and so we
 	// need to ensure it's been populated during upgrades from 0.11.0
 	// to later patch versions. Remove this block in 1.0
-	if args.Claim != structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease && args.NodeID == "" {
+	if isNewClaim && args.NodeID == "" {
 		state := v.srv.fsm.State()
 		ws := memdb.NewWatchSet()
 		alloc, err := state.AllocByID(ws, args.AllocationID)
@@ -385,7 +388,7 @@ func (v *CSIVolume) Claim(args *structs.CSIVolumeClaimRequest, reply *structs.CS
 		args.NodeID = alloc.NodeID
 	}
 
-	if args.Claim != structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease {
+	if isNewClaim {
 		// if this is a new claim, add a Volume and PublishContext from the
 		// controller (if any) to the reply
 		err = v.controllerPublishVolume(args, reply)
@@ -548,7 +551,6 @@ func (v *CSIVolume) Unpublish(args *structs.CSIVolumeUnpublishRequest, reply *st
 	}
 
 	claim := args.Claim
-	claim.Mode = structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease
 
 	// previous checkpoints may have set the past claim state already.
 	// in practice we should never see CSIVolumeClaimStateControllerDetached
diff --git a/nomad/state/state_store.go b/nomad/state/state_store.go
index 09fa5db9b..87c453ba8 100644
--- a/nomad/state/state_store.go
+++ b/nomad/state/state_store.go
@@ -2227,7 +2227,7 @@ func (s *StateStore) CSIVolumeClaim(index uint64, namespace, id string, claim *s
 	}
 
 	var alloc *structs.Allocation
-	if claim.Mode != structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease {
+	if claim.State == structs.CSIVolumeClaimStateTaken {
 		alloc, err = s.AllocByID(ws, claim.AllocationID)
 		if err != nil {
 			s.logger.Error("AllocByID failed", "error", err)
diff --git a/nomad/state/state_store_test.go b/nomad/state/state_store_test.go
index e104850b5..982080b21 100644
--- a/nomad/state/state_store_test.go
+++ b/nomad/state/state_store_test.go
@@ -2951,7 +2951,7 @@ func TestStateStore_CSIVolume(t *testing.T) {
 	// Claims
 	r := structs.CSIVolumeClaimRead
 	w := structs.CSIVolumeClaimWrite
-	u := structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease
+	u := structs.CSIVolumeClaimGC
 	claim0 := &structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 		AllocationID: a0.ID,
 		NodeID:       node.ID,
diff --git a/nomad/structs/csi.go b/nomad/structs/csi.go
index b0c5796ca..79d3c9cab 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/csi.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/csi.go
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ const (
 	CSIVolumeClaimStateNodeDetached
 	CSIVolumeClaimStateControllerDetached
 	CSIVolumeClaimStateReadyToFree
+	CSIVolumeClaimStateUnpublishing
 )
 
 // CSIVolume is the full representation of a CSI Volume
@@ -443,15 +444,17 @@ func (v *CSIVolume) Copy() *CSIVolume {
 
 // Claim updates the allocations and changes the volume state
 func (v *CSIVolume) Claim(claim *CSIVolumeClaim, alloc *Allocation) error {
-	switch claim.Mode {
-	case CSIVolumeClaimRead:
-		return v.ClaimRead(claim, alloc)
-	case CSIVolumeClaimWrite:
-		return v.ClaimWrite(claim, alloc)
-	case CSIVolumeClaimRelease:
-		return v.ClaimRelease(claim)
+
+	if claim.State == CSIVolumeClaimStateTaken {
+		switch claim.Mode {
+		case CSIVolumeClaimRead:
+			return v.ClaimRead(claim, alloc)
+		case CSIVolumeClaimWrite:
+			return v.ClaimWrite(claim, alloc)
+		}
 	}
-	return nil
+	// either GC or a Unpublish checkpoint
+	return v.ClaimRelease(claim)
 }
 
 // ClaimRead marks an allocation as using a volume read-only
@@ -633,7 +636,11 @@ type CSIVolumeClaimMode int
 const (
 	CSIVolumeClaimRead CSIVolumeClaimMode = iota
 	CSIVolumeClaimWrite
-	CSIVolumeClaimRelease
+
+	// for GC we don't have a specific claim to set the state on, so instead we
+	// create a new claim for GC in order to bump the ModifyIndex and trigger
+	// volumewatcher
+	CSIVolumeClaimGC
 )
 
 type CSIVolumeClaimBatchRequest struct {
diff --git a/nomad/volumewatcher/volume_watcher_test.go b/nomad/volumewatcher/volume_watcher_test.go
index 2d348ffe8..848ca58b9 100644
--- a/nomad/volumewatcher/volume_watcher_test.go
+++ b/nomad/volumewatcher/volume_watcher_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func TestVolumeWatch_Reap(t *testing.T) {
 	vol.PastClaims = map[string]*structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 		alloc.ID: {
 			NodeID: node.ID,
-			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
+			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimRead,
 			State:  structs.CSIVolumeClaimStateNodeDetached,
 		},
 	}
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func TestVolumeWatch_Reap(t *testing.T) {
 	vol.PastClaims = map[string]*structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 		"": {
 			NodeID: node.ID,
-			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
+			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimGC,
 		},
 	}
 	err = w.volumeReapImpl(vol)
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func TestVolumeWatch_Reap(t *testing.T) {
 	vol.PastClaims = map[string]*structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 		"": {
 			NodeID: node.ID,
-			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
+			Mode:   structs.CSIVolumeClaimRead,
 		},
 	}
 	err = w.volumeReapImpl(vol)
diff --git a/nomad/volumewatcher/volumes_watcher_test.go b/nomad/volumewatcher/volumes_watcher_test.go
index 760836774..1b767367e 100644
--- a/nomad/volumewatcher/volumes_watcher_test.go
+++ b/nomad/volumewatcher/volumes_watcher_test.go
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@ func TestVolumeWatch_EnableDisable(t *testing.T) {
 	err := srv.State().CSIVolumeRegister(index, []*structs.CSIVolume{vol})
 	require.NoError(err)
 
-	claim := &structs.CSIVolumeClaim{Mode: structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease}
+	claim := &structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
+		Mode:  structs.CSIVolumeClaimGC,
+		State: structs.CSIVolumeClaimStateNodeDetached,
+	}
 	index++
 	err = srv.State().CSIVolumeClaim(index, vol.Namespace, vol.ID, claim)
 	require.NoError(err)
@@ -147,7 +150,6 @@ func TestVolumeWatch_StartStop(t *testing.T) {
 	claim = &structs.CSIVolumeClaim{
 		AllocationID: alloc1.ID,
 		NodeID:       node.ID,
-		Mode:         structs.CSIVolumeClaimRelease,
 	}
 	index++
 	err = srv.State().CSIVolumeClaim(index, vol.Namespace, vol.ID, claim)