diff --git a/tests/rptest/tests/shard_placement_test.py b/tests/rptest/tests/shard_placement_test.py
index 687d465ea979b..20baaa86f4fbd 100644
--- a/tests/rptest/tests/shard_placement_test.py
+++ b/tests/rptest/tests/shard_placement_test.py
@@ -345,7 +345,10 @@ def test_manual_rebalance(self):
 
     @cluster(num_nodes=6)
     def test_core_count_change(self):
-        self.redpanda.set_resource_settings(ResourceSettings(num_cpus=1))
+        initial_core_count = self.redpanda.get_node_cpu_count()
+
+        self.redpanda.set_resource_settings(
+            ResourceSettings(num_cpus=initial_core_count - 1))
         self.redpanda.start()
 
         admin = Admin(self.redpanda)
@@ -353,7 +356,8 @@ def test_core_count_change(self):
 
         n_partitions = 10
 
-        for topic in ["foo", "bar"]:
+        topics = ["foo", "bar"]
+        for topic in topics:
             # create topics with rf=5 for ease of accounting
             rpk.create_topic(topic, partitions=n_partitions, replicas=5)
 
@@ -365,18 +369,41 @@ def test_core_count_change(self):
 
         node = self.redpanda.nodes[0]
         node_id = self.redpanda.node_id(node)
-        self.redpanda.stop_node(node)
-        self.redpanda.set_resource_settings(ResourceSettings(num_cpus=2))
-        self.redpanda.start_node(node)
-        self.redpanda.wait_for_membership(first_start=False)
+
+        def restart_node(num_cpus):
+            self.redpanda.stop_node(node)
+            self.redpanda.set_resource_settings(
+                ResourceSettings(num_cpus=num_cpus))
+            self.redpanda.start_node(node)
+            self.redpanda.wait_for_membership(first_start=False)
+
+            def configuration_updated():
+                for n in self.redpanda.nodes:
+                    broker = [
+                        b for b in admin.get_brokers(node=n)
+                        if b["node_id"] == node_id
+                    ][0]
+                    if broker["num_cores"] != num_cpus:
+                        return False
+                return True
+
+            wait_until(configuration_updated, timeout_sec=15, backoff_sec=2)
+
+        restart_node(num_cpus=initial_core_count)
 
         # check that the node moved partitions to the new core
+        def check_balanced_shard_map(shard_map, num_cpus):
+            self.print_shard_stats(shard_map)
+            counts_by_topic = self.get_shard_counts_by_topic(
+                shard_map, node_id)
+            for topic in topics:
+                shard_counts = counts_by_topic[topic]
+                assert len(shard_counts) == num_cpus
+                assert sum(shard_counts) == n_partitions
+                assert max(shard_counts) - min(shard_counts) <= 1
+
         shard_map = self.get_replica_shard_map([node], admin)
-        self.print_shard_stats(shard_map)
-        counts_by_topic = self.get_shard_counts_by_topic(shard_map, node_id)
-        assert len(counts_by_topic) > 0
-        for topic, shard_counts in counts_by_topic.items():
-            assert max(shard_counts) - min(shard_counts) <= 1
+        check_balanced_shard_map(shard_map, initial_core_count)
 
         # do some manual moves and check that their effects remain
         # if the core count doesn't change.
@@ -404,9 +431,26 @@ def test_core_count_change(self):
         self.print_shard_stats(map_after_restart)
         assert map_after_restart == shard_map
 
-        self.stop_client_load()
+        self.logger.info("decreasing core count...")
+
+        restart_node(num_cpus=initial_core_count - 1)
+        shard_map = self.get_replica_shard_map([node], admin)
+        check_balanced_shard_map(shard_map, initial_core_count - 1)
+
+        self.logger.info("creating another topic...")
+        rpk.create_topic("quux", partitions=n_partitions, replicas=5)
+        topics.append("quux")
 
-        # TODO: core count decrease (not supported yet)
+        shard_map = self.wait_shard_map_stationary([node], admin)
+        check_balanced_shard_map(shard_map, initial_core_count - 1)
+
+        self.logger.info("increasing core count back...")
+
+        restart_node(num_cpus=initial_core_count)
+        shard_map = self.get_replica_shard_map([node], admin)
+        check_balanced_shard_map(shard_map, initial_core_count)
+
+        self.stop_client_load()
 
     @cluster(num_nodes=6)
     def test_node_join(self):