diff --git a/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/controller.go b/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/controller.go
index 9411c69df..7769f4d88 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/controller.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -224,6 +225,10 @@ func add(mgr manager.Manager, r reconcile.Reconciler, context *clusterd.Context)
 func (r *ReconcileCephCluster) Reconcile(context context.Context, request reconcile.Request) (reconcile.Result, error) {
 	// workaround because the rook logging mechanism is not compatible with the controller-runtime logging interface
 	reconcileResponse, cephCluster, err := r.reconcile(request)
+	if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), opcontroller.CancellingOrchestrationMessage) {
+		logger.Infof("Cluster update requested. %s", opcontroller.CancellingOrchestrationMessage)
+		return opcontroller.ImmediateRetryResultNoBackoff, nil
+	}
 
 	return reporting.ReportReconcileResult(logger, r.clusterController.recorder,
 		cephCluster, reconcileResponse, err)
diff --git a/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/controller_utils.go b/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/controller_utils.go
index e27dab61d..7556e539b 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/controller_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/ceph/controller/controller_utils.go
@@ -43,12 +43,19 @@ const (
 
 	// OperatorNotInitializedMessage is the message we print when the Operator is not ready to reconcile, typically the ceph.conf has not been generated yet
 	OperatorNotInitializedMessage = "skipping reconcile since operator is still initializing"
+
+	// CancellingOrchestrationMessage is the message to indicate a reconcile was cancelled
+	CancellingOrchestrationMessage = "CANCELLING CURRENT ORCHESTRATION"
 )
 
 var (
 	// ImmediateRetryResult Return this for a immediate retry of the reconciliation loop with the same request object.
 	ImmediateRetryResult = reconcile.Result{Requeue: true}
 
+	// ImmediateRetryResultNoBackoff Return this for a immediate retry of the reconciliation loop with the same request object.
+	// Override the exponential backoff behavior by setting the RequeueAfter time explicitly.
+	ImmediateRetryResultNoBackoff = reconcile.Result{Requeue: true, RequeueAfter: time.Second}
+
 	// WaitForRequeueIfCephClusterNotReady waits for the CephCluster to be ready
 	WaitForRequeueIfCephClusterNotReady = reconcile.Result{Requeue: true, RequeueAfter: 10 * time.Second}
 
@@ -80,7 +87,7 @@ func CheckForCancelledOrchestration(context *clusterd.Context) error {
 
 	// Check whether we need to cancel the orchestration
 	if context.RequestCancelOrchestration.IsSet() {
-		return errors.New("CANCELLING CURRENT ORCHESTRATION")
+		return errors.New(CancellingOrchestrationMessage)
 	}
 
 	return nil