diff --git a/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/CardDavBackend.php b/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/CardDavBackend.php
index 4829bdf4e76..07738053b46 100644
--- a/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/CardDavBackend.php
+++ b/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/CardDavBackend.php
@@ -479,6 +479,13 @@ class CardDavBackend implements BackendInterface, SyncSupport {
 			->from($this->dbCardsTable)
 			->where($query->expr()->eq('addressbookid', $query->createNamedParameter($addressbookId)));
 
+		return $this->getCardsFromQuery($query);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @return array[]
+	 */
+	private function getCardsFromQuery(IQueryBuilder $query): array {
 		$cards = [];
 
 		$result = $query->executeQuery();
@@ -1533,4 +1540,32 @@ class CardDavBackend implements BackendInterface, SyncSupport {
 		// should already be handled, but just in case
 		throw new BadRequest('vCard can not be empty');
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Mark all cards in an address book as needing to be validated
+	 *
+	 * This is done by setting the modified date to `null`, once a sync runs
+	 * the mtime will be set to a non-null value. Leaving all deleted items with
+	 * a null modified date.
+	 */
+	public function markCardsAsPending(int $addressBookId): void {
+		$query = $this->db->getQueryBuilder();
+		$query->update($this->dbCardsTable)
+			->set('lastmodified', $query->createNamedParameter(null))
+			->where($query->expr()->eq('addressbookid', $query->createNamedParameter($addressBookId)))
+			->executeStatement();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @return array[]
+	 */
+	public function getPendingCards(int $addressBookId): array {
+		$query = $this->db->getQueryBuilder();
+		$query->select(['id', 'addressbookid', 'uri', 'lastmodified', 'etag', 'size', 'carddata', 'uid'])
+			->from($this->dbCardsTable)
+			->where($query->expr()->eq('addressbookid', $query->createNamedParameter($addressBookId)))
+			->andWhere($query->expr()->isNull('lastmodified'));
+
+		return $this->getCardsFromQuery($query);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/SyncService.php b/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/SyncService.php
index 0bc5c57a406..38c2cef83a5 100644
--- a/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/SyncService.php
+++ b/apps/dav/lib/CardDAV/SyncService.php
@@ -66,13 +66,11 @@ class SyncService extends ASyncService {
 			throw $ex;
 		}
 
-		$received = [];
 		// 3. apply changes
 		// TODO: use multi-get for download
 		foreach ($response['response'] as $resource => $status) {
 			$cardUri = basename($resource);
 			if (isset($status[200])) {
-				$received[] = $cardUri;
 				$absoluteUrl = $this->prepareUri($url, $resource);
 				$vCard = $this->download($absoluteUrl, $userName, $sharedSecret);
 				$this->atomic(function () use ($addressBookId, $cardUri, $vCard): void {
@@ -88,15 +86,6 @@ class SyncService extends ASyncService {
 			}
 		}
 
-		// when doing a full sync, remove any items in the local address book that aren't in the remote one
-		if (!$syncToken) {
-			$existingCards = $this->backend->getCards($addressBookId);
-			$removedCards = array_filter($existingCards, fn (array $card) => !in_array($card['uri'], $received));
-			foreach ($removedCards as $removedCard) {
-				$this->backend->deleteCard($addressBookId, $removedCard['uri']);
-			}
-		}
-
 		return [
 			$response['token'],
 			$response['truncated'],
@@ -225,4 +214,15 @@ class SyncService extends ASyncService {
 	public static function getCardUri(IUser $user): string {
 		return $user->getBackendClassName() . ':' . $user->getUID() . '.vcf';
 	}
+
+	public function markCardsAsPending(int $addressBookId): void {
+		$this->backend->markCardsAsPending($addressBookId);
+	}
+
+	public function deletePendingCards(int $addressBookId): void {
+		$cards = $this->backend->getPendingCards($addressBookId);
+		foreach ($cards as $card) {
+			$this->backend->deleteCard($addressBookId, $card['uri']);
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/apps/federation/lib/SyncFederationAddressBooks.php b/apps/federation/lib/SyncFederationAddressBooks.php
index e78a98835e0..b3272597110 100644
--- a/apps/federation/lib/SyncFederationAddressBooks.php
+++ b/apps/federation/lib/SyncFederationAddressBooks.php
@@ -51,7 +51,12 @@ class SyncFederationAddressBooks {
 			];
 
 			try {
-				$syncToken = $oldSyncToken;
+				$syncToken = $full ? null : $oldSyncToken;
+
+				$book = $this->syncService->ensureSystemAddressBookExists($targetPrincipal, $targetBookId, $targetBookProperties);
+				if ($full) {
+					$this->syncService->markCardsAsPending($book['id']);
+				}
 
 				do {
 					[$syncToken, $truncated] = $this->syncService->syncRemoteAddressBook(
@@ -59,13 +64,17 @@ class SyncFederationAddressBooks {
 						$cardDavUser,
 						$addressBookUrl,
 						$sharedSecret,
-						$full ? null : $syncToken,
+						$syncToken,
 						$targetBookId,
 						$targetPrincipal,
 						$targetBookProperties
 					);
 				} while ($truncated);
 
+				if ($full) {
+					$this->syncService->deletePendingCards($book['id']);
+				}
+
 				if ($syncToken !== $oldSyncToken) {
 					$this->dbHandler->setServerStatus($url, TrustedServers::STATUS_OK, $syncToken);
 				} else {