diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
index 3ca6d79f0..6fb2b7eee 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -668,3 +668,37 @@ func (c *Cluster) GetStatus() *spec.ClusterStatus {
 		Error: c.Error,
 	}
 }
+
+// ManualFailover does manual failover to a candidate pod
+func (c *Cluster) ManualFailover(curMaster *v1.Pod, candidate spec.NamespacedName) error {
+	c.logger.Debugf("failing over from %q to %q", curMaster.Name, candidate)
+	podLabelErr := make(chan error)
+	stopCh := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(podLabelErr)
+
+	go func() {
+		ch := c.registerPodSubscriber(candidate)
+		defer c.unregisterPodSubscriber(candidate)
+
+		role := Master
+
+		select {
+		case <-stopCh:
+		case podLabelErr <- c.waitForPodLabel(ch, &role):
+		}
+	}()
+
+	if err := c.patroni.Failover(curMaster, candidate.Name); err != nil {
+		close(stopCh)
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not failover: %v", err)
+	}
+	c.logger.Debugf("successfully failed over from %q to %q", curMaster.Name, candidate)
+
+	defer close(stopCh)
+
+	if err := <-podLabelErr; err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not get master pod label: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/pod.go b/pkg/cluster/pod.go
index aa595d914..e48739ae2 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/pod.go
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) recreatePod(pod v1.Pod) error {
 	if err := c.waitForPodDeletion(ch); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := c.waitForPodLabel(ch); err != nil {
+	if err := c.waitForPodLabel(ch, nil); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	c.logger.Infof("pod %q is ready", podName)
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) recreatePods() error {
 	c.logger.Infof("there are %d pods in the cluster to recreate", len(pods.Items))
 
 	var masterPod v1.Pod
+	replicas := make([]spec.NamespacedName, 0)
 	for _, pod := range pods.Items {
 		role := c.podSpiloRole(&pod)
 
@@ -138,11 +139,17 @@ func (c *Cluster) recreatePods() error {
 		if err := c.recreatePod(pod); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not recreate replica pod %q: %v", util.NameFromMeta(pod.ObjectMeta), err)
 		}
+
+		replicas = append(replicas, util.NameFromMeta(pod.ObjectMeta))
 	}
+
 	if masterPod.Name == "" {
 		c.logger.Warningln("no master pod in the cluster")
 	} else {
-		//TODO: do manual failover
+		err := c.ManualFailover(&masterPod, masterCandidate(replicas))
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not perform manual failover: %v", err)
+		}
 		//TODO: specify master, leave new master empty
 		c.logger.Infof("recreating master pod %q", util.NameFromMeta(masterPod.ObjectMeta))
 
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/util.go b/pkg/cluster/util.go
index 1e79c1ae5..7f5c1cd6b 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/util.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/util.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package cluster
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -182,15 +183,17 @@ func (c *Cluster) getTeamMembers() ([]string, error) {
 	return teamInfo.Members, nil
 }
 
-func (c *Cluster) waitForPodLabel(podEvents chan spec.PodEvent) error {
+func (c *Cluster) waitForPodLabel(podEvents chan spec.PodEvent, role *PostgresRole) error {
 	for {
 		select {
 		case podEvent := <-podEvents:
-			role := c.podSpiloRole(podEvent.CurPod)
-			// We cannot assume any role of the newly created pod. Normally, for a multi-pod cluster
-			// we should observe the 'replica' value, but it could be that some pods are not allowed
-			// to promote, therefore, the new pod could be a master as well.
-			if role == constants.PodRoleMaster || role == constants.PodRoleReplica {
+			podRole := PostgresRole(podEvent.CurPod.Labels[c.OpConfig.PodRoleLabel])
+
+			if role == nil {
+				if podRole == Master || podRole == Replica {
+					return nil
+				}
+			} else if *role == podRole {
 				return nil
 			}
 		case <-time.After(c.OpConfig.PodLabelWaitTimeout):
@@ -342,3 +345,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) credentialSecretNameForCluster(username string, clusterName st
 func (c *Cluster) podSpiloRole(pod *v1.Pod) string {
 	return pod.Labels[c.OpConfig.PodRoleLabel]
 }
+
+func masterCandidate(replicas []spec.NamespacedName) spec.NamespacedName {
+	return replicas[rand.Intn(len(replicas))]
+}