diff --git a/.ci/oci-nightly-olm.sh b/.ci/oci-nightly-olm.sh
index 3a810ca306..97fe1cd623 100755
--- a/.ci/oci-nightly-olm.sh
+++ b/.ci/oci-nightly-olm.sh
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ runTests() {
     deployDevWorkspaceController
     waitDevWorkspaceControllerStarted
     createWorksaceDevWorkspaceController
+    waitWorkspaceStartedDevWorkspaceController
 }
 
 initDefaults
diff --git a/.github/bin/common.sh b/.github/bin/common.sh
index ecec560b95..5235a68287 100755
--- a/.github/bin/common.sh
+++ b/.github/bin/common.sh
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ login() {
 }
 
 deployDevWorkspaceController() {
-  oc patch checluster eclipse-che -n ${NAMESPACE}  --type=merge -p '{"spec":{"devWorkspace": {"enable": "true"}}}'
+  oc patch checluster eclipse-che -n ${NAMESPACE}  --type=merge -p '{"spec":{"devWorkspace": {"enable": true}}}'
 }
 
 waitDevWorkspaceControllerStarted() {
@@ -366,7 +366,25 @@ waitDevWorkspaceControllerStarted() {
 }
 
 createWorksaceDevWorkspaceController () {
-  oc create namespace che-che
-  oc apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devfile/devworkspace-operator/main/samples/flattened_theia-next.yaml -n che-che
+  oc apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devfile/devworkspace-operator/main/samples/flattened_theia-next.yaml -n default
+}
+
+waitWorkspaceStartedDevWorkspaceController() {
+  n=0
+  while [ $n -le 120 ]
+  do
+    pods=$(oc get pods -n default)
+    echo "[INFO] Pod status: ${pods}"
+    if [[ $pods =~ .*Running.* ]]; then
+      echo "[INFO] Wokrspace started succesfully"
+      return
+    fi
+
+    sleep 5
+    n=$(( n+1 ))
+  done
+
+  echo "Failed to start a workspace"
+  exit 1
 }
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 35afa373fa..54b59db9ed 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -13,12 +13,12 @@
 # NOTE: using registry.redhat.io/rhel8/go-toolset requires login, which complicates automation
 # NOTE: since updateBaseImages.sh does not support other registries than RHCC, update to RHEL8
 # https://access.redhat.com/containers/?tab=tags#/registry.access.redhat.com/devtools/go-toolset-rhel7
+ARG DEV_WORKSPACE_CONTROLLER_VERSION="master"
+
 FROM registry.access.redhat.com/devtools/go-toolset-rhel7:1.13.15-4  as builder
 ENV PATH=/opt/rh/go-toolset-1.13/root/usr/bin:${PATH} \
     GOPATH=/go/
 
-ENV DEV_WORKSPACE_CONTROLLER_VERSION="master"
-
 USER root
 ADD . /che-operator
 WORKDIR /che-operator
diff --git a/make-release.sh b/make-release.sh
index e21dc71606..103fdb127a 100755
--- a/make-release.sh
+++ b/make-release.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ init() {
   RELEASE_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")"; pwd)
   FORCE_UPDATE=""
   BUILDX_PLATFORMS="linux/amd64,linux/ppc64le"
+  DEV_WORKSPACE_CONTROLLER_VERSION="master"
 
   if [[ $# -lt 1 ]]; then usage; exit; fi
 
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ init() {
       '--release-olm-files') RELEASE_OLM_FILES=true; shift 0;;
       '--update-nightly-olm-files') UPDATE_NIGHTLY_OLM_FILES=true; shift 0;;
       '--prepare-community-operators-update') PREPARE_COMMUNITY_OPERATORS_UPDATE=true; shift 0;;
+      '--dev-workspace-controller-version') DEV_WORKSPACE_CONTROLLER_VERSION=$2; shift 1;;
       '--force') FORCE_UPDATE="--force"; shift 0;;
     '--help'|'-h') usage; exit;;
     esac
@@ -161,7 +163,7 @@ releaseOperatorCode() {
   docker login quay.io -u "${QUAY_ECLIPSE_CHE_USERNAME}" -p "${QUAY_ECLIPSE_CHE_PASSWORD}"
 
   echo "[INFO] releaseOperatorCode :: Build operator image in platforms: $BUILDX_PLATFORMS"
-  docker buildx build --platform "$BUILDX_PLATFORMS" --push -t "quay.io/eclipse/che-operator:${RELEASE}" .
+  docker buildx build --build-arg DEV_WORKSPACE_CONTROLLER_VERSION=${DEV_WORKSPACE_CONTROLLER_VERSION} --platform "$BUILDX_PLATFORMS" --push -t "quay.io/eclipse/che-operator:${RELEASE}" .
 }
 
 updateNightlyOlmFiles() {
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/sync.go b/pkg/deploy/sync.go
index 3b86126885..390387c8cf 100644
--- a/pkg/deploy/sync.go
+++ b/pkg/deploy/sync.go
@@ -139,11 +139,6 @@ func isUpdateUsingDeleteCreate(kind string) bool {
 	return "Service" == kind || "Ingress" == kind || "Route" == kind
 }
 
-func shouldSetOwnerReferenceForObject(deployContext *DeployContext, obj metav1.Object) bool {
-	// empty workspace (cluster scope object) or object in another namespace
-	return obj.GetNamespace() == deployContext.CheCluster.Namespace
-}
-
 func setOwnerReferenceAndConvertToRuntime(deployContext *DeployContext, obj metav1.Object) (runtime.Object, error) {
 	robj, ok := obj.(runtime.Object)
 	if !ok {
@@ -162,6 +157,11 @@ func setOwnerReferenceAndConvertToRuntime(deployContext *DeployContext, obj meta
 	return robj, nil
 }
 
+func shouldSetOwnerReferenceForObject(deployContext *DeployContext, obj metav1.Object) bool {
+	// empty workspace (cluster scope object) or object in another namespace
+	return obj.GetNamespace() == deployContext.CheCluster.Namespace
+}
+
 func getClientForObject(objectMeta metav1.Object, deployContext *DeployContext) client.Client {
 	// empty namespace (cluster scope object) or object in another namespace
 	if deployContext.CheCluster.Namespace == objectMeta.GetNamespace() {