diff --git a/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/controller.py b/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/controller.py
index db47a75a7..7f3c29802 100644
--- a/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/controller.py
+++ b/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/controller.py
@@ -481,6 +481,29 @@ async def get_desired_workers(scheduler_service_name, namespace, logger):
 worker_group_scale_locks = defaultdict(lambda: asyncio.Lock())
 
 
+@kopf.on.field("daskcluster.kubernetes.dask.org", field="spec.worker.replicas")
+async def daskcluster_default_worker_group_replica_update(
+    name, namespace, meta, spec, old, new, body, logger, **kwargs
+):
+    if old is None:
+        return
+    worker_group_name = f"{name}-default"
+
+    async with kubernetes.client.api_client.ApiClient() as api_client:
+        custom_objects_api = kubernetes.client.CustomObjectsApi(api_client)
+        custom_objects_api.api_client.set_default_header(
+            "content-type", "application/merge-patch+json"
+        )
+        await custom_objects_api.patch_namespaced_custom_object_scale(
+            group="kubernetes.dask.org",
+            version="v1",
+            plural="daskworkergroups",
+            namespace=namespace,
+            name=worker_group_name,
+            body={"spec": {"replicas": new}},
+        )
+
+
 @kopf.on.field("daskworkergroup.kubernetes.dask.org", field="spec.worker.replicas")
 async def daskworkergroup_replica_update(
     name, namespace, meta, spec, new, body, logger, **kwargs
diff --git a/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/tests/test_controller.py b/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/tests/test_controller.py
index f0b1c676c..fadc8882c 100644
--- a/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/tests/test_controller.py
+++ b/dask_kubernetes/operator/controller/tests/test_controller.py
@@ -140,6 +140,54 @@ async def test_scalesimplecluster(k8s_cluster, kopf_runner, gen_cluster):
                         "daskworkergroup.kubernetes.dask.org",
                         "simple-default",
                     )
+                    # TODO: Currently, doesn't test anything. Need to add optional
+                    #       argument to wait when removing workers once distributed
+                    #       PR github.com/dask/distributed/pull/6377 is merged.
+                    await client.wait_for_workers(3)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_scalesimplecluster_from_cluster_spec(
+    k8s_cluster, kopf_runner, gen_cluster
+):
+    with kopf_runner as runner:
+        async with gen_cluster() as cluster_name:
+            scheduler_pod_name = "simple-scheduler"
+            worker_pod_name = "simple-default-worker"
+            service_name = "simple-scheduler"
+            while scheduler_pod_name not in k8s_cluster.kubectl("get", "pods"):
+                await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
+            while service_name not in k8s_cluster.kubectl("get", "svc"):
+                await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
+            while worker_pod_name not in k8s_cluster.kubectl("get", "pods"):
+                await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
+            k8s_cluster.kubectl(
+                "wait",
+                "pods",
+                "--for=condition=Ready",
+                scheduler_pod_name,
+                "--timeout=120s",
+            )
+            with k8s_cluster.port_forward(f"service/{service_name}", 8786) as port:
+                async with Client(
+                    f"tcp://localhost:{port}", asynchronous=True
+                ) as client:
+                    k8s_cluster.kubectl(
+                        "scale",
+                        "--replicas=5",
+                        "daskcluster.kubernetes.dask.org",
+                        cluster_name,
+                    )
+                    await client.wait_for_workers(5)
+                    k8s_cluster.kubectl(
+                        "scale",
+                        "--replicas=3",
+                        "daskcluster.kubernetes.dask.org",
+                        cluster_name,
+                    )
+                    # TODO: Currently, doesn't test anything. Need to add optional
+                    #       argument to wait when removing workers once distributed
+                    #       PR github.com/dask/distributed/pull/6377 is merged.
                     await client.wait_for_workers(3)