diff --git a/.changelog/5145.txt b/.changelog/5145.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8dc6b4c9cc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5145.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+compute: fixed a permanent diff for `next_hop_instance_zone` on `google_compute_route` when `next_hop_instance` was set to a self link
+```
diff --git a/google/resource_compute_route.go b/google/resource_compute_route.go
index bd18a866d17..85cf22ad3ac 100644
--- a/google/resource_compute_route.go
+++ b/google/resource_compute_route.go
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ Default value is 1000. Valid range is 0 through 65535.`,
 				Type:        schema.TypeString,
 				Optional:    true,
 				ForceNew:    true,
+				Computed:    true,
 				Description: "The zone of the instance specified in next_hop_instance. Omit if next_hop_instance is specified as a URL.",
 			},
 			"project": {