diff --git a/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller.go b/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller.go
index 7f43099a1ed..7e6e73b95a4 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller.go
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ func (r *ReconcileClusterVersion) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, request reconci
 		return reconcile.Result{}, err
 	}
 
-	if err := r.updateClusterVersionLabels(cd, clusterVersion, cdLog); err != nil {
+	if err := r.updateClusterVersionMetadata(cd, clusterVersion, cdLog); err != nil {
 		return reconcile.Result{}, err
 	}
 
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func (r *ReconcileClusterVersion) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, request reconci
 	return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: requeueAfter}, nil
 }
 
-func (r *ReconcileClusterVersion) updateClusterVersionLabels(cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment, clusterVersion *openshiftapiv1.ClusterVersion, cdLog log.FieldLogger) error {
+func (r *ReconcileClusterVersion) updateClusterVersionMetadata(cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment, clusterVersion *openshiftapiv1.ClusterVersion, cdLog log.FieldLogger) error {
 	changed := false
 	cvoVersion := clusterVersion.Status.Desired.Version
 	if cd.Labels == nil {
@@ -221,20 +221,23 @@ func (r *ReconcileClusterVersion) updateClusterVersionLabels(cd *hivev1.ClusterD
 			break
 		}
 	}
-	changed = changed || upgradeableCondition != cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable]
+	changed = changed || upgradeableCondition != cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable]
 	if upgradeableCondition == "" {
-		delete(cd.Labels, constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable)
+		delete(cd.Annotations, constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable)
 	} else {
-		cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable] = upgradeableCondition
+		if cd.Annotations == nil {
+			cd.Annotations = map[string]string{}
+		}
+		cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable] = upgradeableCondition
 	}
 
 	if !changed {
-		cdLog.Debug("labels have not changed, nothing to update")
+		cdLog.Debug("cluster version metadata has not changed, nothing to update")
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	if err := r.Update(context.TODO(), cd); err != nil {
-		cdLog.WithError(err).Log(controllerutils.LogLevel(err), "error update cluster deployment labels")
+		cdLog.WithError(err).Log(controllerutils.LogLevel(err), "error updating cluster deployment metadata")
 		return err
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller_test.go
index 5d28a864e3d..22e6802d70c 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/clusterversion/clusterversion_controller_test.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func TestClusterVersionReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 				Status: configv1.ConditionTrue,
 			}),
 			validate: func(t *testing.T, cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment) {
-				assert.Equal(t, "", cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
+				assert.Equal(t, "", cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func TestClusterVersionReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 				Status: configv1.ConditionFalse,
 			}),
 			validate: func(t *testing.T, cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment) {
-				assert.Equal(t, "Upgradeable: False", cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
+				assert.Equal(t, "Upgradeable: False", cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func TestClusterVersionReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 				Message: "Can't do the upgrade",
 			}),
 			validate: func(t *testing.T, cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment) {
-				assert.Equal(t, "Can't do the upgrade", cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
+				assert.Equal(t, "Can't do the upgrade", cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func TestClusterVersionReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 				Status: configv1.ConditionUnknown,
 			}),
 			validate: func(t *testing.T, cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment) {
-				assert.Equal(t, "Upgradeable: Unknown", cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
+				assert.Equal(t, "Upgradeable: Unknown", cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ func TestClusterVersionReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 				Message: "Can't read status",
 			}),
 			validate: func(t *testing.T, cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment) {
-				assert.Equal(t, "Can't read status", cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
+				assert.Equal(t, "Can't read status", cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ func TestClusterVersionReconcile(t *testing.T) {
 					Message: "It can't upgrade",
 				}),
 			validate: func(t *testing.T, cd *hivev1.ClusterDeployment) {
-				assert.Equal(t, "It can't upgrade", cd.Labels[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
+				assert.Equal(t, "It can't upgrade", cd.Annotations[constants.MinorVersionUpgradeUnavailable], "unexpected version major-minor-patch label")
 			},
 		},
 	}