diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
index 3edb3a56b..065c7c336 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -316,7 +316,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) compareStatefulSetWith(statefulSet *v1beta1.StatefulSet) *comp
 		reasons = append(reasons, "new statefulset's container specification doesn't match the current one")
 	}
 	if len(c.Statefulset.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers) == 0 {
-
 		c.logger.Warningf("statefulset %q has no container", util.NameFromMeta(c.Statefulset.ObjectMeta))
 		return &compareStatefulsetResult{}
 	}
@@ -432,10 +431,8 @@ func (c *Cluster) Update(newSpec *spec.Postgresql) error {
 	defer c.mu.Unlock()
 
 	c.setStatus(spec.ClusterStatusUpdating)
-	c.logger.Debugf("cluster update from version %q to %q",
-		c.ResourceVersion, newSpec.ResourceVersion)
 
-	/* Make sure we update when this function exists */
+	/* Make sure we update when this function exits */
 	defer func() {
 		c.Postgresql = *newSpec
 	}()
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/pod.go b/pkg/cluster/pod.go
index 77949e229..d562fa60b 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/pod.go
@@ -11,12 +11,11 @@ import (
 )
 
 func (c *Cluster) listPods() ([]v1.Pod, error) {
-	ns := c.Namespace
 	listOptions := metav1.ListOptions{
 		LabelSelector: c.labelsSet().String(),
 	}
 
-	pods, err := c.KubeClient.Pods(ns).List(listOptions)
+	pods, err := c.KubeClient.Pods(c.Namespace).List(listOptions)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get list of pods: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -24,6 +23,27 @@ func (c *Cluster) listPods() ([]v1.Pod, error) {
 	return pods.Items, nil
 }
 
+func (c *Cluster) getRolePods(role PostgresRole) ([]v1.Pod, error) {
+	listOptions := metav1.ListOptions{
+		LabelSelector: c.roleLabelsSet(role).String(),
+	}
+
+	pods, err := c.KubeClient.Pods(c.Namespace).List(listOptions)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get list of pods: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(pods.Items) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no pods")
+	}
+
+	if role == Master && len(pods.Items) > 1 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("too many masters")
+	}
+
+	return pods.Items, nil
+}
+
 func (c *Cluster) deletePods() error {
 	c.logger.Debugln("deleting pods")
 	pods, err := c.listPods()
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/resources.go b/pkg/cluster/resources.go
index 80a5d02b4..0fc29b2ea 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/resources.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/resources.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package cluster
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
@@ -119,6 +121,56 @@ func (c *Cluster) createStatefulSet() (*v1beta1.StatefulSet, error) {
 	return statefulSet, nil
 }
 
+func getPodIndex(podName string) (int32, error) {
+	parts := strings.Split(podName, "-")
+	if len(parts) == 0 {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("pod has no index part")
+	}
+
+	postfix := parts[len(parts)-1]
+	res, err := strconv.ParseInt(postfix, 10, 32)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("could not parse pod index: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return int32(res), nil
+}
+
+func (c *Cluster) preScaleDown(newStatefulSet *v1beta1.StatefulSet) error {
+	masterPod, err := c.getRolePods(Master)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not get master pod: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	podNum, err := getPodIndex(masterPod[0].Name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not get pod number: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	//Check if scale down affects current master pod
+	if *newStatefulSet.Spec.Replicas >= podNum+1 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	podName := fmt.Sprintf("%s-0", c.Statefulset.Name)
+	masterCandidatePod, err := c.KubeClient.Pods(c.OpConfig.Namespace).Get(podName, metav1.GetOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not get master candidate pod: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// some sanity check
+	if !util.MapContains(masterCandidatePod.Labels, c.OpConfig.ClusterLabels) ||
+		!util.MapContains(masterCandidatePod.Labels, map[string]string{c.OpConfig.ClusterNameLabel: c.Name}) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("pod %q does not belong to cluster", podName)
+	}
+
+	if err := c.patroni.Failover(&masterPod[0], masterCandidatePod.Name); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not failover: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (c *Cluster) updateStatefulSet(newStatefulSet *v1beta1.StatefulSet) error {
 	c.setProcessName("updating statefulset")
 	if c.Statefulset == nil {
@@ -126,6 +178,12 @@ func (c *Cluster) updateStatefulSet(newStatefulSet *v1beta1.StatefulSet) error {
 	}
 	statefulSetName := util.NameFromMeta(c.Statefulset.ObjectMeta)
 
+	//scale down
+	if *c.Statefulset.Spec.Replicas > *newStatefulSet.Spec.Replicas {
+		if err := c.preScaleDown(newStatefulSet); err != nil {
+			c.logger.Warningf("could not scale down: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
 	c.logger.Debugf("updating statefulset")
 
 	patchData, err := specPatch(newStatefulSet.Spec)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/pod.go b/pkg/controller/pod.go
index dfda7551f..b37ea14a9 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/pod.go
@@ -45,10 +45,6 @@ func (c *Controller) dispatchPodEvent(clusterName spec.NamespacedName, event spe
 	cluster, ok := c.clusters[clusterName]
 	c.clustersMu.RUnlock()
 	if ok {
-		c.logger.WithField("cluster-name", clusterName).
-			Debugf("sending %q event of pod %q to the cluster channel",
-				event.EventType,
-				event.PodName)
 		cluster.ReceivePodEvent(event)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/util/patroni/patroni.go b/pkg/util/patroni/patroni.go
index 6c254b41a..5789755aa 100644
--- a/pkg/util/patroni/patroni.go
+++ b/pkg/util/patroni/patroni.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func New(logger *logrus.Entry) *Patroni {
 	}
 }
 
-func (p *Patroni) apiURL(masterPod *v1.Pod) string {
+func apiURL(masterPod *v1.Pod) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("http://%s:%d", masterPod.Status.PodIP, apiPort)
 }
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func (p *Patroni) Failover(master *v1.Pod, candidate string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not encode json: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	request, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, p.apiURL(master)+failoverPath, buf)
+	request, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, apiURL(master)+failoverPath, buf)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create request: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -77,4 +77,4 @@ func (p *Patroni) Failover(master *v1.Pod, candidate string) error {
 	}
 
 	return nil
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/util/util.go b/pkg/util/util.go
index 518603b57..c003ef477 100644
--- a/pkg/util/util.go
+++ b/pkg/util/util.go
@@ -103,3 +103,19 @@ func FindNamedStringSubmatch(r *regexp.Regexp, s string) map[string]string {
 
 	return res
 }
+
+// MapContains returns true if and only if haystack contains all the keys from the needle with matching corresponding values
+func MapContains(haystack, needle map[string]string) bool {
+	if len(haystack) < len(needle) {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	for k, v := range needle {
+		v2, ok := haystack[k]
+		if !ok || v2 != v {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/pkg/util/util_test.go b/pkg/util/util_test.go
index b94852dfb..53ac13768 100644
--- a/pkg/util/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/util_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,18 @@ var substractTest = []struct {
 	{[]string{"a", "b", "c", "d"}, []string{"a", "bb", "c", "d"}, []string{"b"}, false},
 }
 
+var mapContaintsTest = []struct {
+	inA map[string]string
+	inB map[string]string
+	out bool
+}{
+	{map[string]string{"1": "a", "2": "b", "3": "c", "4": "c"}, map[string]string{"1": "a", "2": "b", "3": "c"}, true},
+	{map[string]string{"1": "a", "2": "b", "3": "c", "4": "c"}, map[string]string{"1": "a", "2": "b", "3": "d"}, false},
+	{map[string]string{}, map[string]string{}, true},
+	{map[string]string{"3": "c", "4": "c"}, map[string]string{"1": "a", "2": "b", "3": "c"}, false},
+	{map[string]string{"3": "c", "4": "c"}, map[string]string{}, true},
+}
+
 var substringMatch = []struct {
 	inRegex *regexp.Regexp
 	inStr   string
@@ -122,3 +134,12 @@ func TestFindNamedStringSubmatch(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMapContains(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range mapContaintsTest {
+		res := MapContains(tt.inA, tt.inB)
+		if res != tt.out {
+			t.Errorf("MapContains expected: %#v, got: %#v", tt.out, res)
+		}
+	}
+}