diff --git a/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass.go b/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass.go
index 1b8270dca..06a40b3f1 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass.go
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ func desiredIngressClass(haveIngressController bool, ingressControllerName strin
 	}
 
 	name := controller.IngressClassName(ingressControllerName)
+	scope := networkingv1.IngressClassParametersReferenceScopeCluster
 	class := &networkingv1.IngressClass{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name: name.Name,
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ func desiredIngressClass(haveIngressController bool, ingressControllerName strin
 				APIGroup: &operatorv1.GroupName,
 				Kind:     "IngressController",
 				Name:     ingressControllerName,
+				Scope:    &scope,
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass_test.go b/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass_test.go
index 4d5bbb79e..b1e232d26 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass_test.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/controller/ingressclass/ingressclass_test.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 // TestDesiredIngressClass verifies that desiredIngressClass behaves as
 // expected.
 func TestDesiredIngressClass(t *testing.T) {
+	scope := "Cluster"
 	makeIngressClass := func(icName string, annotateAsDefault bool) *networkingv1.IngressClass {
 		apiGroup := "operator.openshift.io"
 		name := "openshift-" + icName
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ func TestDesiredIngressClass(t *testing.T) {
 					APIGroup: &apiGroup,
 					Kind:     "IngressController",
 					Name:     icName,
+					Scope:    &scope,
 				},
 			},
 		}