A sealing assembly for sealing a surface of a machine element from a medium on one side and surroundings on the other side includes a sealing ring and a protector ring. The sealing ring has at least one dynamically stressed sealing lip configured to contact, in a sealing manner, the surface to be sealed. The protector ring is disposed on a side of the sealing lip that is to be axially remote from the medium. The protector ring has a circumferential surface configured to be disposed adjacent to the surface to be sealed with a radial spacing such that the circumferential surface delimits a choke gap together with the surface to be sealed. The circumferential surface of the protector ring includes a conveying structure having a conveying direction that is axially away from the sealing lip and towards the surroundings.