diff --git a/charms/worker/charmcraft.yaml b/charms/worker/charmcraft.yaml
index 1f845a07..7fc53d9c 100644
--- a/charms/worker/charmcraft.yaml
+++ b/charms/worker/charmcraft.yaml
@@ -47,11 +47,14 @@ config:
       type: string
       description: Snap channel of the k8s snap
     labels:
-      default: "node-role.kubernetes.io/worker="
+      default: ""
       type: string
       description: |
         Labels can be used to organize and to select subsets of nodes in the
-        cluster. Declare node labels in key=value format, separated by spaces.      
+        cluster. Declare node labels in key=value format, separated by spaces.
+        
+        Note: Due to NodeRestriction, workers are limited to how they can label themselves
+        https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/admission-controllers/#noderestriction
 parts:
   charm:
     build-packages: [git]
diff --git a/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py b/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py
index 90a9d99e..60f8c170 100755
--- a/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py
+++ b/charms/worker/k8s/src/charm.py
@@ -68,9 +68,6 @@ def __init__(self, *args):
         """
         super().__init__(*args)
         factory = UnixSocketConnectionFactory(unix_socket=K8SD_SNAP_SOCKET, timeout=320)
-        self.label_maker = LabelMaker(
-            self, kubeconfig_path=self._source_kubeconfig, kubectl=KUBECTL_PATH
-        )
         self.api_manager = K8sdAPIManager(factory)
         self.cos = COSIntegration(self)
         self.reconciler = Reconciler(self, self._reconcile)
@@ -355,13 +352,14 @@ def _generate_kubeconfig(self):
         KUBECONFIG.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         KUBECONFIG.write_bytes(self._source_kubeconfig.read_bytes())
 
-    @status.on_error(ops.WaitingStatus("Waiting to apply node labels"), LabelMaker.NodeLabelError)
+    @status.on_error(ops.BlockedStatus("Cannot apply node-labels"), LabelMaker.NodeLabelError)
     def _apply_node_labels(self):
         """Apply labels to the node."""
         status.add(ops.MaintenanceStatus("Apply Node Labels"))
         node = self.get_node_name()
-        if self.label_maker.active_labels() is not None:
-            self.label_maker.apply_node_labels()
+        labeler = LabelMaker(self, kubeconfig_path=self._source_kubeconfig, kubectl=KUBECTL_PATH)
+        if labeler.active_labels() is not None:
+            labeler.apply_node_labels()
             log.info("Node %s labelled successfully", node)
         else:
             log.info("Node %s not yet labelled", node)
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_k8s.py b/tests/integration/test_k8s.py
index 2b9480d5..492e136d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_k8s.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_k8s.py
@@ -14,6 +14,16 @@
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+async def get_nodes(k8s):
+    action = await k8s.run("k8s kubectl get nodes -o json")
+    result = await action.wait()
+    assert result.results["return-code"] == 0, "Failed to get nodes with kubectl"
+    log.info("Parsing node list...")
+    node_list = json.loads(result.results["stdout"])
+    assert node_list["kind"] == "List", "Should have found a list of nodes"
+    return node_list["items"]
+
+
 @retry(reraise=True, stop=stop_after_attempt(12), wait=wait_fixed(15))
 async def ready_nodes(k8s, expected_count):
     """Get a list of the ready nodes.
@@ -26,26 +36,20 @@ async def ready_nodes(k8s, expected_count):
         list of nodes
     """
     log.info("Finding all nodes...")
-    action = await k8s.run("k8s kubectl get nodes -o json")
-    result = await action.wait()
-    assert result.results["return-code"] == 0, "Failed to get nodes with kubectl"
-    log.info("Parsing node list...")
-    node_list = json.loads(result.results["stdout"])
-    assert node_list["kind"] == "List", "Should have found a list of nodes"
-    nodes = {
+    nodes = await get_nodes(k8s)
+    ready_nodes = {
         node["metadata"]["name"]: all(
             condition["status"] == "False"
             for condition in node["status"]["conditions"]
             if condition["type"] != "Ready"
         )
-        for node in node_list["items"]
+        for node in nodes
     }
-    log.info("Found %d/%d nodes...", len(nodes), expected_count)
-    assert len(nodes) == expected_count, f"Expect {expected_count} nodes in the list"
-    for node, ready in nodes.items():
+    log.info("Found %d/%d nodes...", len(ready_nodes), expected_count)
+    assert len(ready_nodes) == expected_count, f"Expect {expected_count} nodes in the list"
+    for node, ready in ready_nodes.items():
         log.info("Node %s is %s..", node, "ready" if ready else "not ready")
         assert ready, f"Node not yet ready: {node}."
-    return nodes
 
 
 @pytest.mark.abort_on_fail
@@ -55,3 +59,14 @@ async def test_nodes_ready(kubernetes_cluster):
     worker = kubernetes_cluster.applications["k8s-worker"]
     expected_nodes = len(k8s.units) + len(worker.units)
     await ready_nodes(k8s.units[0], expected_nodes)
+
+
+async def test_nodes_labelled(kubernetes_cluster):
+    k8s = kubernetes_cluster.applications["k8s"]
+    worker = kubernetes_cluster.applications["k8s-worker"]
+    nodes = await get_nodes(k8s.units[0])
+    control_plane_label = "node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane"
+    control_plane = [n for n in nodes if control_plane_label in n["metadata"]["labels"]]
+    assert len(k8s.units) == len(control_plane), "Not all control-plane nodes labeled"
+    juju_nodes = [n for n in nodes if "juju-charm" in n["metadata"]["labels"]]
+    assert len(k8s.units + worker.units) == len(juju_nodes), "Not all nodes labeled as juju-charms"