diff --git a/stackit/internal/services/ske/cluster/resource.go b/stackit/internal/services/ske/cluster/resource.go
index ddd24839..f2194ca6 100644
--- a/stackit/internal/services/ske/cluster/resource.go
+++ b/stackit/internal/services/ske/cluster/resource.go
@@ -269,6 +269,17 @@ func (r *clusterResource) Schema(_ context.Context, _ resource.SchemaRequest, re
 			"kubernetes_version": schema.StringAttribute{
 				Description: "Kubernetes version. Must only contain major and minor version (e.g. 1.22)",
 				Required:    true,
+				PlanModifiers: []planmodifier.String{
+					stringplanmodifier.RequiresReplaceIf(stringplanmodifier.RequiresReplaceIfFunc(func(ctx context.Context, sr planmodifier.StringRequest, rrifr *stringplanmodifier.RequiresReplaceIfFuncResponse) {
+						if sr.StateValue.IsNull() || sr.PlanValue.IsNull() {
+							return
+						}
+						planVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%s", sr.PlanValue.ValueString())
+						stateVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%s", sr.StateValue.ValueString())
+
+						rrifr.RequiresReplace = semver.Compare(planVersion, stateVersion) < 0
+					}), "Kubernetes version", "If the Kubernetes version is a downgrade, the cluster will be replaced"),
+				},
 				Validators: []validator.String{
 					validate.MinorVersionNumber(),
 				},
diff --git a/stackit/internal/services/ske/ske_acc_test.go b/stackit/internal/services/ske/ske_acc_test.go
index 39241f9f..f96a659b 100644
--- a/stackit/internal/services/ske/ske_acc_test.go
+++ b/stackit/internal/services/ske/ske_acc_test.go
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ func TestAccSKE(t *testing.T) {
 				// The fields are not provided in the SKE API when disabled, although set actively.
 				ImportStateVerifyIgnore: []string{"kube_config", "extensions.argus.%", "extensions.argus.argus_instance_id", "extensions.argus.enabled", "extensions.acl.enabled", "extensions.acl.allowed_cidrs", "extensions.acl.allowed_cidrs.#", "extensions.acl.%"},
 			},
-			// ) Import minimal cluster
+			// 5) Import minimal cluster
 			{
 				ResourceName: "stackit_ske_cluster.cluster_min",
 				ImportStateIdFunc: func(s *terraform.State) (string, error) {
@@ -509,6 +509,17 @@ func TestAccSKE(t *testing.T) {
 					resource.TestCheckNoResourceAttr("stackit_ske_cluster.cluster", "kube_config"), // when using the kubeconfig resource, the kubeconfig field becomes null
 				),
 			},
+			// 7) Downgrade kubernetes version
+			{
+				Config: getConfig(clusterResource["kubernetes_version"], utils.Ptr(clusterResource["maintenance_end_new"])),
+				Check: resource.ComposeAggregateTestCheckFunc(
+					// cluster data
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("stackit_ske_cluster.cluster", "project_id", clusterResource["project_id"]),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("stackit_ske_cluster.cluster", "name", clusterResource["name"]),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("stackit_ske_cluster.cluster", "kubernetes_version", clusterResource["kubernetes_version"]),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("stackit_ske_cluster.cluster", "kubernetes_version_used", clusterResource["kubernetes_version_used"]),
+				),
+			},
 			// Deletion is done by the framework implicitly
 		},
 	})