diff --git a/controllers/nova_controller.go b/controllers/nova_controller.go
index 0e247cab8..af45c9179 100644
--- a/controllers/nova_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/nova_controller.go
@@ -159,8 +159,8 @@ func (r *NovaReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (resul
 			instance.Status.Conditions.Set(
 				instance.Status.Conditions.Mirror(condition.ReadyCondition))
 		}
-		err := h.PatchInstance(ctx, instance)
 		condition.RestoreLastTransitionTimes(&instance.Status.Conditions, savedConditions)
+		err := h.PatchInstance(ctx, instance)
 		if err != nil {
 			_err = err
 			return
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index e1bbd1030..542a5c0c0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ go 1.20
 
 require (
 	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.2
+	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/gophercloud/gophercloud v1.12.0
 	github.com/k8snetworkplumbingwg/network-attachment-definition-client v1.4.0
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/golang/groupcache v0.0.0-20210331224755-41bb18bfe9da // indirect
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4 // indirect
 	github.com/google/gnostic-models v0.6.8 // indirect
-	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/gofuzz v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20240424215950-a892ee059fd6 // indirect
 	github.com/imdario/mergo v0.3.16 // indirect
diff --git a/test/functional/nova_reconfiguration_test.go b/test/functional/nova_reconfiguration_test.go
index 36473c0ce..89db43011 100644
--- a/test/functional/nova_reconfiguration_test.go
+++ b/test/functional/nova_reconfiguration_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ package functional_test
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2" //revive:disable:dot-imports
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"    //revive:disable:dot-imports
 
@@ -766,4 +768,26 @@ var _ = Describe("Nova reconfiguration", func() {
 			g.Expect(GetEnvVarValue(jobEnv, "PURGE_AGE", "")).To(Equal("99"))
 		}, timeout, interval).Should(Succeed())
 	})
+	It("does not change status if label is added", func() {
+		// ensure that any newly generated timestamp i.e. in the condition list
+		// will result in a different string representation
+		time.Sleep(time.Second)
+
+		var oldStatus *novav1.NovaStatus
+		Eventually(func(g Gomega) {
+			nova := GetNova(novaNames.NovaName)
+			oldStatus = nova.Status.DeepCopy()
+
+			nova.Labels = map[string]string{
+				"foo": "bar",
+			}
+			g.Expect(k8sClient.Update(ctx, nova)).To(Succeed())
+		}, timeout, interval).Should(Succeed())
+
+		Consistently(func(g Gomega) {
+			newStatus := &GetNova(novaNames.NovaName).Status
+			diff := cmp.Diff(oldStatus, newStatus)
+			g.Expect(diff).To(BeEmpty())
+		}, timeout, interval).Should(Succeed())
+	})
 })