diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
index 22072bb696..8c2201f73c 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ConfigurationServiceOverrider;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ControllerConfiguration;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ControllerConfigurationOverrider;
+import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.UpdatableConfigurationService;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.reconciler.Reconciler;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.Controller;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.processing.LifecycleAware;
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ public class Operator implements LifecycleAware {
 
   private final ControllerManager controllerManager;
   private final LeaderElectionManager leaderElectionManager;
-  private final ConfigurationService configurationService;
+  private final UpdatableConfigurationService configurationService;
   private volatile boolean started = false;
 
   public Operator() {
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ public Operator() {
    * @param configurationService a {@link ConfigurationService} providing the configuration for the
    *     operator
    */
-  public Operator(ConfigurationService configurationService) {
+  public Operator(UpdatableConfigurationService configurationService) {
     this.configurationService = configurationService;
 
     final var executorServiceManager = configurationService.getExecutorServiceManager();
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ public Operator(Consumer<ConfigurationServiceOverrider> overrider) {
     this(initConfigurationService(null, overrider));
   }
 
-  private static ConfigurationService initConfigurationService(
+  private static UpdatableConfigurationService initConfigurationService(
       KubernetesClient client, Consumer<ConfigurationServiceOverrider> overrider) {
     // initialize the client if the user didn't provide one
     if (client == null) {
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ private static ConfigurationService initConfigurationService(
       overrider = o -> o.withKubernetesClient(kubernetesClient);
     }
 
-    return ConfigurationService.newOverriddenConfigurationService(overrider);
+    return UpdatableConfigurationService.newOverriddenConfigurationService(overrider);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -209,6 +210,12 @@ public <P extends HasMetadata> RegisteredController<P> register(
               + configurationService.getKnownReconcilerNames());
     }
 
+    // update the reconciler's configuration in the ConfigurationService if needed
+    final var existing = configurationService.getConfigurationFor(reconciler);
+    if (!configuration.equals(existing)) {
+      configurationService.replace(configuration);
+    }
+
     final var controller = new Controller<>(reconciler, configuration, getKubernetesClient());
 
     controllerManager.add(controller);
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/AbstractConfigurationService.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/AbstractConfigurationService.java
index 5abe6a7d03..1b2ea8f544 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/AbstractConfigurationService.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/AbstractConfigurationService.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * An abstract implementation of {@link ConfigurationService} meant to ease custom implementations
  */
 @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
-public class AbstractConfigurationService implements ConfigurationService {
+public class AbstractConfigurationService implements UpdatableConfigurationService {
   private final Map<String, ControllerConfiguration> configurations = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
   private final Version version;
   private KubernetesClient client;
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public AbstractConfigurationService(
   protected void init(
       Cloner cloner, ExecutorServiceManager executorServiceManager, KubernetesClient client) {
     this.client = client;
-    this.cloner = cloner != null ? cloner : ConfigurationService.super.getResourceCloner();
+    this.cloner = cloner != null ? cloner : UpdatableConfigurationService.super.getResourceCloner();
     this.executorServiceManager = executorServiceManager;
   }
 
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ protected <R extends HasMetadata> void register(ControllerConfiguration<R> confi
     put(config, true);
   }
 
-  protected <R extends HasMetadata> void replace(ControllerConfiguration<R> config) {
+  @Override
+  public <R extends HasMetadata> void replace(ControllerConfiguration<R> config) {
     put(config, false);
   }
 
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ public Cloner getResourceCloner() {
   public KubernetesClient getKubernetesClient() {
     // lazy init to avoid needing initializing a client when not needed (in tests, in particular)
     if (client == null) {
-      client = ConfigurationService.super.getKubernetesClient();
+      client = UpdatableConfigurationService.super.getKubernetesClient();
     }
     return client;
   }
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ public KubernetesClient getKubernetesClient() {
   public ExecutorServiceManager getExecutorServiceManager() {
     // lazy init to avoid initializing thread pools for nothing in an overriding scenario
     if (executorServiceManager == null) {
-      executorServiceManager = ConfigurationService.super.getExecutorServiceManager();
+      executorServiceManager = UpdatableConfigurationService.super.getExecutorServiceManager();
     }
     return executorServiceManager;
   }
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UpdatableConfigurationService.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UpdatableConfigurationService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de1b4a27cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UpdatableConfigurationService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config;
+
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
+
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
+
+public interface UpdatableConfigurationService extends ConfigurationService {
+  <R extends HasMetadata> void replace(ControllerConfiguration<R> config);
+
+  static UpdatableConfigurationService newOverriddenConfigurationService(
+      Consumer<ConfigurationServiceOverrider> overrider) {
+    final var baseConfiguration = new BaseConfigurationService();
+    if (overrider != null) {
+      final var toOverride = new ConfigurationServiceOverrider(baseConfiguration);
+      overrider.accept(toOverride);
+      return (UpdatableConfigurationService) toOverride.build();
+    }
+    return baseConfiguration;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/OperatorTest.java b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/OperatorTest.java
index 9bdd54ca8d..fc7989076b 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/OperatorTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/OperatorTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator;
 
+import java.util.Set;
+
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
@@ -51,6 +53,15 @@ void shouldBePossibleToRetrieveRegisteredControllerByName() {
     assertEquals(maybeController.get(), registeredControllers.stream().findFirst().orElseThrow());
   }
 
+  @Test
+  void overriddenConfigurationShouldBeUpdatedInConfigurationService() {
+    final var reconciler = new FooReconciler();
+    operator.register(new FooReconciler(), override -> override.settingNamespace("test"));
+    final var config = operator.getConfigurationService().getConfigurationFor(reconciler);
+    final var namespaces = config.getInformerConfig().getNamespaces();
+    assertEquals(Set.of("test"), namespaces);
+  }
+
   @ControllerConfiguration
   private static class FooReconciler implements Reconciler<ConfigMap> {