diff --git a/test/e2e/set/scyllacluster/scyllacluster_scaling.go b/test/e2e/set/scyllacluster/scyllacluster_scaling.go
index 4bfdda8ce30..1577702e424 100644
--- a/test/e2e/set/scyllacluster/scyllacluster_scaling.go
+++ b/test/e2e/set/scyllacluster/scyllacluster_scaling.go
@@ -83,41 +83,9 @@ var _ = g.Describe("ScyllaCluster", func() {
 
 		verifyCQLData(ctx, diRF3)
 
-		framework.By("Scaling the ScyllaCluster down to 4 replicas")
-		sc, err = f.ScyllaClient().ScyllaV1().ScyllaClusters(sc.Namespace).Patch(
-			ctx,
-			sc.Name,
-			types.JSONPatchType,
-			[]byte(`[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/datacenter/racks/0/members", "value": 4}]`),
-			metav1.PatchOptions{},
-		)
-		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
-		o.Expect(sc.Spec.Datacenter.Racks[0].Members).To(o.BeEquivalentTo(4))
-
-		framework.By("Waiting for the ScyllaCluster to roll out (RV=%s)", sc.ResourceVersion)
-		waitCtx3, waitCtx3Cancel := utils.ContextForRollout(ctx, sc)
-		defer waitCtx3Cancel()
-		sc, err = controllerhelpers.WaitForScyllaClusterState(waitCtx3, f.ScyllaClient().ScyllaV1().ScyllaClusters(sc.Namespace), sc.Name, controllerhelpers.WaitForStateOptions{}, utils.IsScyllaClusterRolledOut)
-		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
-
-		verifyScyllaCluster(ctx, f.KubeClient(), sc)
-		waitForFullQuorum(ctx, f.KubeClient().CoreV1(), sc)
-
-		oldHosts = hosts
-		oldHostIDs = hostIDs
-		hosts, hostIDs, err = utils.GetBroadcastRPCAddressesAndUUIDs(ctx, f.KubeClient().CoreV1(), sc)
-		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
-		o.Expect(oldHosts).To(o.HaveLen(5))
-		o.Expect(oldHostIDs).To(o.HaveLen(5))
-		o.Expect(hosts).To(o.HaveLen(4))
-		o.Expect(hostIDs).To(o.HaveLen(4))
-		o.Expect(oldHostIDs).To(o.ContainElements(hostIDs))
-
-		verifyCQLData(ctx, diRF3)
-
-		podName := naming.StatefulSetNameForRack(sc.Spec.Datacenter.Racks[0], sc) + "-1"
+		podName := naming.StatefulSetNameForRack(sc.Spec.Datacenter.Racks[0], sc) + "-4"
 		svcName := podName
-		framework.By("Marking ScyllaCluster node #2 (%s) for maintenance", podName)
+		framework.By("Marking ScyllaCluster node #4 (%s) for maintenance", podName)
 		svc := &corev1.Service{
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 				Labels: map[string]string{
@@ -136,7 +104,7 @@ var _ = g.Describe("ScyllaCluster", func() {
 		)
 		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
 
-		framework.By("Manually draining ScyllaCluster node #2 (%s)", podName)
+		framework.By("Manually draining ScyllaCluster node #4 (%s)", podName)
 		ec := &corev1.EphemeralContainer{
 			TargetContainerName: naming.ScyllaContainerName,
 			EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
@@ -154,6 +122,38 @@ var _ = g.Describe("ScyllaCluster", func() {
 		o.Expect(ephemeralContainerState.State.Terminated).NotTo(o.BeNil())
 		o.Expect(ephemeralContainerState.State.Terminated.ExitCode).To(o.BeEquivalentTo(0))
 
+		framework.By("Scaling the ScyllaCluster down to 4 replicas")
+		sc, err = f.ScyllaClient().ScyllaV1().ScyllaClusters(sc.Namespace).Patch(
+			ctx,
+			sc.Name,
+			types.JSONPatchType,
+			[]byte(`[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/datacenter/racks/0/members", "value": 4}]`),
+			metav1.PatchOptions{},
+		)
+		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
+		o.Expect(sc.Spec.Datacenter.Racks[0].Members).To(o.BeEquivalentTo(4))
+
+		framework.By("Waiting for the ScyllaCluster to roll out (RV=%s)", sc.ResourceVersion)
+		waitCtx3, waitCtx3Cancel := utils.ContextForRollout(ctx, sc)
+		defer waitCtx3Cancel()
+		sc, err = controllerhelpers.WaitForScyllaClusterState(waitCtx3, f.ScyllaClient().ScyllaV1().ScyllaClusters(sc.Namespace), sc.Name, controllerhelpers.WaitForStateOptions{}, utils.IsScyllaClusterRolledOut)
+		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
+
+		verifyScyllaCluster(ctx, f.KubeClient(), sc)
+		waitForFullQuorum(ctx, f.KubeClient().CoreV1(), sc)
+
+		oldHosts = hosts
+		oldHostIDs = hostIDs
+		hosts, hostIDs, err = utils.GetBroadcastRPCAddressesAndUUIDs(ctx, f.KubeClient().CoreV1(), sc)
+		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())
+		o.Expect(oldHosts).To(o.HaveLen(5))
+		o.Expect(oldHostIDs).To(o.HaveLen(5))
+		o.Expect(hosts).To(o.HaveLen(4))
+		o.Expect(hostIDs).To(o.HaveLen(4))
+		o.Expect(oldHostIDs).To(o.ContainElements(hostIDs))
+
+		verifyCQLData(ctx, diRF3)
+
 		framework.By("Scaling the ScyllaCluster down to 3 replicas")
 		sc, err = f.ScyllaClient().ScyllaV1().ScyllaClusters(f.Namespace()).Patch(
 			ctx,