diff --git a/e2e/tests/replacepods/replacepods.go b/e2e/tests/replacepods/replacepods.go
index bcef7a0537..2b5d92e954 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/replacepods/replacepods.go
+++ b/e2e/tests/replacepods/replacepods.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/loft-sh/devspace/pkg/devspace/kubectl/selector"
 	"github.com/loft-sh/devspace/pkg/util/factory"
 	"github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	autoscalingv1 "k8s.io/api/autoscaling/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
@@ -269,6 +270,37 @@ var _ = DevSpaceDescribe("replacepods", func() {
 		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
 		framework.ExpectEqual(pods.Items[0].Spec.Containers[0].Image, "alpine:3.14")
 
+		// now scale down the devspace deployment and upscale the replaced deployment
+		_, err = kubeClient.Client().KubeClient().AppsV1().Deployments(ns).UpdateScale(context.TODO(), "replace-deployment-devspace", &autoscalingv1.Scale{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "replace-deployment-devspace", Namespace: ns},
+			Spec:       autoscalingv1.ScaleSpec{Replicas: 0},
+		}, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
+		_, err = kubeClient.Client().KubeClient().AppsV1().Deployments(ns).UpdateScale(context.TODO(), "replace-deployment", &autoscalingv1.Scale{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "replace-deployment", Namespace: ns},
+			Spec:       autoscalingv1.ScaleSpec{Replicas: 1},
+		}, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
+
+		// rerun the devspace command
+		devCmd = &cmd.RunPipelineCmd{
+			GlobalFlags: &flags.GlobalFlags{
+				NoWarn:    true,
+				Namespace: ns,
+			},
+			Pipeline: "dev",
+		}
+		err = devCmd.RunDefault(f)
+		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
+
+		// make sure the deployments are correctly scaled
+		deployment, err := kubeClient.Client().KubeClient().AppsV1().Deployments(ns).Get(context.TODO(), "replace-deployment-devspace", metav1.GetOptions{})
+		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
+		framework.ExpectEqual(*deployment.Spec.Replicas, int32(1))
+		deployment, err = kubeClient.Client().KubeClient().AppsV1().Deployments(ns).Get(context.TODO(), "replace-deployment", metav1.GetOptions{})
+		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
+		framework.ExpectEqual(*deployment.Spec.Replicas, int32(0))
+
 		// now purge the deployment and make sure the replica set is deleted as well
 		purgeCmd := &cmd.RunPipelineCmd{
 			GlobalFlags: &flags.GlobalFlags{
diff --git a/e2e/tests/replacepods/testdata/deployment/devspace.yaml b/e2e/tests/replacepods/testdata/deployment/devspace.yaml
index 5283c7cfe9..d6911d22e4 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/replacepods/testdata/deployment/devspace.yaml
+++ b/e2e/tests/replacepods/testdata/deployment/devspace.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ vars:
   - name: IMAGE
     value: john/devbackend
 deployments:
-  - name: very-long-name-very-long-name-very-long-name
+  - name: replace-deployment
     helm:
       componentChart: true
       values:
diff --git a/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/builder.go b/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/builder.go
index a338053cb6..650332fc73 100644
--- a/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/builder.go
+++ b/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/builder.go
@@ -64,18 +64,21 @@ func buildDeployment(ctx devspacecontext.Context, name string, target runtime.Ob
 	case *appsv1.ReplicaSet:
 		deployment.Annotations[TargetNameAnnotation] = t.Name
 		deployment.Annotations[TargetKindAnnotation] = "ReplicaSet"
+		deployment.Spec.Selector = t.Spec.Selector
 		podTemplate.Labels = t.Spec.Template.Labels
 		podTemplate.Annotations = t.Spec.Template.Annotations
 		podTemplate.Spec = *t.Spec.Template.Spec.DeepCopy()
 	case *appsv1.Deployment:
 		deployment.Annotations[TargetNameAnnotation] = t.Name
 		deployment.Annotations[TargetKindAnnotation] = "Deployment"
+		deployment.Spec.Selector = t.Spec.Selector
 		podTemplate.Labels = t.Spec.Template.Labels
 		podTemplate.Annotations = t.Spec.Template.Annotations
 		podTemplate.Spec = *t.Spec.Template.Spec.DeepCopy()
 	case *appsv1.StatefulSet:
 		deployment.Annotations[TargetNameAnnotation] = t.Name
 		deployment.Annotations[TargetKindAnnotation] = "StatefulSet"
+		deployment.Spec.Selector = t.Spec.Selector
 		podTemplate.Labels = t.Spec.Template.Labels
 		podTemplate.Annotations = t.Spec.Template.Annotations
 		podTemplate.Spec = *t.Spec.Template.Spec.DeepCopy()
@@ -148,12 +151,15 @@ func buildDeployment(ctx devspacecontext.Context, name string, target runtime.Ob
 		podTemplate.Annotations[selector.MatchedContainerAnnotation] = strings.Join(containers, ";")
 	}
 
-	deployment.Spec = appsv1.DeploymentSpec{
-		Selector: &metav1.LabelSelector{
-			MatchLabels: podTemplate.ObjectMeta.Labels,
-		},
-		Template: *podTemplate,
+	deployment.Spec.Template = *podTemplate
+	if deployment.Spec.Selector == nil {
+		deployment.Spec.Selector = &metav1.LabelSelector{}
+	}
+	if deployment.Spec.Selector.MatchLabels == nil {
+		deployment.Spec.Selector.MatchLabels = podTemplate.Labels
+		deployment.Spec.Selector.MatchExpressions = nil
 	}
+	deployment.Spec.Selector.MatchLabels[selector.ReplacedLabel] = "true"
 
 	// make sure labels etc are there
 	if ctx.Log().GetLevel() == logrus.DebugLevel {
diff --git a/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/replace.go b/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/replace.go
index f802b37adc..654d315aa4 100644
--- a/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/replace.go
+++ b/pkg/devspace/services/podreplace/replace.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/loft-sh/devspace/pkg/devspace/deploy"
 	patch2 "github.com/loft-sh/devspace/pkg/util/patch"
 	"github.com/loft-sh/devspace/pkg/util/stringutil"
-	apiequality "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ func (p *replacer) ReplacePod(ctx devspacecontext.Context, devPod *latest.DevPod
 		// check if there is a replaced pod in the target namespace
 		ctx.Log().Debug("Try to find replaced deployment...")
 
-		// find the replaced replica set
+		// find the replaced deployment
 		deployment, err := ctx.KubeClient().KubeClient().AppsV1().Deployments(devPodCache.Namespace).Get(ctx.Context(), devPodCache.Deployment, metav1.GetOptions{})
 		if err != nil {
 			if !kerrors.IsNotFound(err) {
@@ -154,17 +153,14 @@ func updateNeeded(ctx devspacecontext.Context, deployment *appsv1.Deployment, de
 		ctx.Log().Warnf("Error scaling down target: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// don't update if pod spec & config hash are the same
-	if apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(newDeployment.Spec.Template, deployment.Spec.Template) && configHash == deployment.Annotations[DevPodConfigHashAnnotation] {
-		// make sure target is downscaled
-		ctx.Log().Debugf("No changes required in replaced deployment %s", deployment.Name)
-		return false, nil
-	}
-
-	// update deployment´
+	// update deployment
 	originalDeployment := deployment.DeepCopy()
+	deployment.Spec.Replicas = ptr.Int32(1)
+	deployment.Spec.Selector = newDeployment.Spec.Selector
 	deployment.Spec.Template = newDeployment.Spec.Template
+	deployment.Annotations = newDeployment.Annotations
 	deployment.Annotations[DevPodConfigHashAnnotation] = configHash
+	deployment.Labels = newDeployment.Labels
 	patch := patch2.MergeFrom(originalDeployment)
 	patchBytes, err := patch.Data(deployment)
 	if err != nil {