diff --git a/internal/controller/isbservicerollout_controller.go b/internal/controller/isbservicerollout_controller.go
index afe16aa7..228c33eb 100644
--- a/internal/controller/isbservicerollout_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/isbservicerollout_controller.go
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import (
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
@@ -143,29 +142,27 @@ func (r *ISBServiceRolloutReconciler) reconcile(ctx context.Context, isbServiceR
 		controllerutil.AddFinalizer(isbServiceRollout, finalizerName)
 	}
 
-	// apply ISBService
-	// todo: store hash of spec in annotation; use to compare to determine if anything needs to be updated
-	obj := kubernetes.GenericObject{
-		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
-			Kind:       "InterStepBufferService",
-			APIVersion: "numaflow.numaproj.io/v1alpha1",
-		},
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:            isbServiceRollout.Name,
-			Namespace:       isbServiceRollout.Namespace,
-			OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{*metav1.NewControllerRef(isbServiceRollout.GetObjectMeta(), apiv1.ISBServiceRolloutGroupVersionKind)},
-		},
-		Spec: isbServiceRollout.Spec.InterStepBufferService,
+	// make an InterStepBufferService object and add/update spec hash on the ISBServiceRollout object
+	obj, rolloutChildOp, err := makeChildResourceFromRolloutAndUpdateSpecHash(ctx, r.restConfig, isbServiceRollout)
+	if err != nil {
+		numaLogger.Errorf(err, "failed to make an InterStepBufferService object and to update the ISBServiceRollout: %v", err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// TODO: instead of doing this, modify the ApplyCRSpec below to be similar to what is done on the PipelineRollout controller code
+	if rolloutChildOp == RolloutChildNone {
+		return nil
 	}
 
-	err := kubernetes.ApplyCRSpec(ctx, r.restConfig, &obj, "interstepbufferservices")
+	err = kubernetes.ApplyCRSpec(ctx, r.restConfig, obj, "interstepbufferservices")
 	if err != nil {
 		numaLogger.Errorf(err, "failed to apply CR: %v", err)
 		isbServiceRollout.Status.MarkFailed("ApplyISBServiceFailure", err.Error())
 		return err
 	}
+
 	// after the Apply, Get the ISBService so that we can propagate its health into our Status
-	isbsvc, err := kubernetes.GetCR(ctx, r.restConfig, &obj, "interstepbufferservices")
+	isbsvc, err := kubernetes.GetCR(ctx, r.restConfig, obj, "interstepbufferservices")
 	if err != nil {
 		numaLogger.Errorf(err, "failed to get ISBServices: %v", err)
 		return err