diff --git a/internal/controller/bucket/helpers.go b/internal/controller/bucket/helpers.go
index b8f62d7f..516cef13 100644
--- a/internal/controller/bucket/helpers.go
+++ b/internal/controller/bucket/helpers.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/linode/provider-ceph/internal/consts"
 	"github.com/linode/provider-ceph/internal/utils"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
-	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 
 	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
@@ -241,13 +240,12 @@ func (c *external) updateBucketCR(ctx context.Context, bucket *v1alpha1.Bucket,
 	ctx, span := otel.Tracer("").Start(ctx, "bucket.external.updateBucketCR")
 	defer span.End()
 
-	bucketDeepCopy := &v1alpha1.Bucket{}
 	nn := types.NamespacedName{Name: bucket.GetName()}
 	err := retry.OnError(retry.DefaultRetry, resource.IsAPIError, func() error {
 		if err := c.kubeClient.Get(ctx, nn, bucket); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		bucketDeepCopy = bucket.DeepCopy()
+
 		return nil
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -262,9 +260,9 @@ func (c *external) updateBucketCR(ctx context.Context, bucket *v1alpha1.Bucket,
 		if err := retry.OnError(retry.DefaultRetry, resource.IsAPIError, func() error {
 			switch cb(bucket) {
 			case NeedsStatusUpdate:
-				return c.kubeClient.Status().Patch(ctx, bucket, client.MergeFrom(bucketDeepCopy))
+				return c.kubeClient.Status().Update(ctx, bucket)
 			case NeedsObjectUpdate:
-				return c.kubeClient.Patch(ctx, bucket, client.MergeFrom(bucketDeepCopy))
+				return c.kubeClient.Update(ctx, bucket)
 			default:
 				return nil
 			}