diff --git a/pkg/controller/che/che_controller.go b/pkg/controller/che/che_controller.go
index dcf6c84d4..23ed6d84a 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/che/che_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/che/che_controller.go
@@ -386,13 +386,9 @@ func (r *ReconcileChe) Reconcile(request reconcile.Request) (reconcile.Result, e
 	if isOpenShift4 && util.IsDeleteOAuthInitialUser(instance) {
 		if err := r.userHandler.DeleteOAuthInitialUser(deployContext); err != nil {
 			logrus.Errorf("Unable to delete initial OpenShift OAuth user from a cluster. Cause: %s", err.Error())
-			instance.Status.OpenShiftOAuthUserCredentialsSecret = ""
-			if err := r.UpdateCheCRStatus(instance, "openShiftOAuthUserCredentialsSecret", openShiftOAuthUserCredentialsSecret); err != nil {
-				return reconcile.Result{}, err
-			}
-			if err := r.UpdateCheCRSpec(instance, "InitialOpenShiftOAuthUser", "nil"); err != nil {
-				return reconcile.Result{}, err
-			}
+			instance.Spec.Auth.InitialOpenShiftOAuthUser = nil
+			err := r.UpdateCheCRSpec(instance, "InitialOpenShiftOAuthUser", "nil")
+			return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: time.Second * 1}, err
 		}
 		instance.Status.OpenShiftOAuthUserCredentialsSecret = ""
 		if err := r.UpdateCheCRStatus(instance, "openShiftOAuthUserCredentialsSecret", openShiftOAuthUserCredentialsSecret); err != nil {