diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types.go b/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types.go
index 6df96f18..60460cf5 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types.go
@@ -169,9 +169,9 @@ type GaleraRecovery struct {
 	// +optional
 	// +operator-sdk:csv:customresourcedefinitions:type=spec,xDescriptors={"urn:alm:descriptor:com.tectonic.ui:booleanSwitch"}
 	Enabled bool `json:"enabled"`
-	// MinClusterSize is the minimum number of replicas to consider the cluster healthy. It can be either a number of replicas (3) or a percentage (50%).
+	// MinClusterSize is the minimum number of replicas to consider the cluster healthy. It can be either a number of replicas (1) or a percentage (50%).
 	// If Galera consistently reports less replicas than this value for the given 'ClusterHealthyTimeout' interval, a cluster recovery is iniated.
-	// It defaults to '50%' of the replicas specified by the MariaDB object.
+	// It defaults to '1' replica.
 	// +optional
 	// +operator-sdk:csv:customresourcedefinitions:type=spec
 	MinClusterSize *intstr.IntOrString `json:"minClusterSize,omitempty"`
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ func (g *GaleraRecovery) Validate(mdb *MariaDB) error {
 // SetDefaults sets reasonable defaults.
 func (g *GaleraRecovery) SetDefaults(mdb *MariaDB) {
 	if g.MinClusterSize == nil {
-		g.MinClusterSize = ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%"))
+		g.MinClusterSize = ptr.To(intstr.FromInt(1))
 	}
 	if g.ClusterMonitorInterval == nil {
 		g.ClusterMonitorInterval = ptr.To(metav1.Duration{Duration: 10 * time.Second})
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ func (g *GaleraRecovery) SetDefaults(mdb *MariaDB) {
 
 // HasMinClusterSize returns whether the current cluster has the minimum number of replicas. If not, a cluster recovery will be performed.
 func (g *GaleraRecovery) HasMinClusterSize(currentSize int, mdb *MariaDB) (bool, error) {
-	minClusterSize := ptr.Deref(g.MinClusterSize, intstr.FromString("50%"))
+	minClusterSize := ptr.Deref(g.MinClusterSize, intstr.FromInt(1))
 	scaled, err := intstr.GetScaledValueFromIntOrPercent(&minClusterSize, int(mdb.Spec.Replicas), true)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types_test.go b/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types_test.go
index 65af28af..ce0037a3 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types_test.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_galera_types_test.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 						},
 						Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
 							Enabled:                 true,
-							MinClusterSize:          ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
+							MinClusterSize:          ptr.To(intstr.FromInt(1)),
 							ClusterMonitorInterval:  ptr.To(metav1.Duration{Duration: 10 * time.Second}),
 							ClusterHealthyTimeout:   ptr.To(metav1.Duration{Duration: 30 * time.Second}),
 							ClusterBootstrapTimeout: ptr.To(metav1.Duration{Duration: 10 * time.Minute}),
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 						Galera: &Galera{
 							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
 								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
+									Enabled:        true,
 									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("foo")),
 								},
 							},
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 				true,
 			),
 			Entry(
-				"Zero replicas",
+				"Less than min fixed size",
 				0,
 				&MariaDB{
 					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
@@ -362,7 +363,8 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 						Galera: &Galera{
 							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
 								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
-									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
+									Enabled:        true,
+									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromInt(1)),
 								},
 							},
 						},
@@ -372,7 +374,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 				false,
 			),
 			Entry(
-				"Less than min size",
+				"Exact min fixed size",
 				1,
 				&MariaDB{
 					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
@@ -380,6 +382,45 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 						Galera: &Galera{
 							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
 								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
+									Enabled:        true,
+									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromInt(1)),
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				true,
+				false,
+			),
+			Entry(
+				"More than min fixed size",
+				3,
+				&MariaDB{
+					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
+						Replicas: 3,
+						Galera: &Galera{
+							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
+								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
+									Enabled:        true,
+									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromInt(2)),
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				true,
+				false,
+			),
+			Entry(
+				"Less than min relative size",
+				1,
+				&MariaDB{
+					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
+						Replicas: 3,
+						Galera: &Galera{
+							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
+								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
+									Enabled:        true,
 									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 								},
 							},
@@ -390,7 +431,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 				false,
 			),
 			Entry(
-				"Exact min size",
+				"Exact min relative size",
 				2,
 				&MariaDB{
 					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
@@ -398,6 +439,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 						Galera: &Galera{
 							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
 								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
+									Enabled:        true,
 									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 								},
 							},
@@ -408,7 +450,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 				false,
 			),
 			Entry(
-				"More than min size",
+				"More than min relative size",
 				3,
 				&MariaDB{
 					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
@@ -445,6 +487,24 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 				true,
 				false,
 			),
+			Entry(
+				"Default min cluster size",
+				1,
+				&MariaDB{
+					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
+						Replicas: 3,
+						Galera: &Galera{
+							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
+								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
+									Enabled: true,
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				true,
+				false,
+			),
 		)
 
 		DescribeTable(
@@ -498,8 +558,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB Galera types", func() {
 						Galera: &Galera{
 							GaleraSpec: GaleraSpec{
 								Recovery: &GaleraRecovery{
-									Enabled:        false,
-									MinClusterSize: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("foo")),
+									Enabled: false,
 								},
 							},
 						},
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_webhook_test.go b/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_webhook_test.go
index ba5ad4af..62c14051 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_webhook_test.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/mariadb_webhook_test.go
@@ -401,8 +401,8 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB webhook", func() {
 					ObjectMeta: meta,
 					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
 						PodDisruptionBudget: &PodDisruptionBudget{
-							MaxUnavailable: func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
-							MinAvailable:   func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
+							MaxUnavailable: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
+							MinAvailable:   ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 						},
 						Storage: Storage{
 							Size: ptr.To(resource.MustParse("100Mi")),
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MariaDB webhook", func() {
 					ObjectMeta: meta,
 					Spec: MariaDBSpec{
 						PodDisruptionBudget: &PodDisruptionBudget{
-							MaxUnavailable: func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
+							MaxUnavailable: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 						},
 						Storage: Storage{
 							Size: ptr.To(resource.MustParse("100Mi")),
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/maxscale_webhook_test.go b/api/v1alpha1/maxscale_webhook_test.go
index 446575c6..c222721d 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/maxscale_webhook_test.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/maxscale_webhook_test.go
@@ -309,8 +309,8 @@ var _ = Describe("MaxScale webhook", func() {
 							Module: MonitorModuleMariadb,
 						},
 						PodDisruptionBudget: &PodDisruptionBudget{
-							MaxUnavailable: func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
-							MinAvailable:   func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
+							MaxUnavailable: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
+							MinAvailable:   ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 						},
 					},
 				},
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MaxScale webhook", func() {
 							},
 						},
 						PodDisruptionBudget: &PodDisruptionBudget{
-							MaxUnavailable: func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
+							MaxUnavailable: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 						},
 					},
 				},
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MaxScale webhook", func() {
 							Module: MonitorModuleMariadb,
 						},
 						PodDisruptionBudget: &PodDisruptionBudget{
-							MaxUnavailable: func() *intstr.IntOrString { i := intstr.FromString("50%"); return &i }(),
+							MaxUnavailable: ptr.To(intstr.FromString("50%")),
 						},
 					},
 				},
diff --git a/config/crd/bases/k8s.mariadb.com_mariadbs.yaml b/config/crd/bases/k8s.mariadb.com_mariadbs.yaml
index 1de84eae..f46cc7cb 100644
--- a/config/crd/bases/k8s.mariadb.com_mariadbs.yaml
+++ b/config/crd/bases/k8s.mariadb.com_mariadbs.yaml
@@ -7222,9 +7222,9 @@ spec:
                         - type: integer
                         - type: string
                         description: |-
-                          MinClusterSize is the minimum number of replicas to consider the cluster healthy. It can be either a number of replicas (3) or a percentage (50%).
+                          MinClusterSize is the minimum number of replicas to consider the cluster healthy. It can be either a number of replicas (1) or a percentage (50%).
                           If Galera consistently reports less replicas than this value for the given 'ClusterHealthyTimeout' interval, a cluster recovery is iniated.
-                          It defaults to '50%' of the replicas specified by the MariaDB object.
+                          It defaults to '1' replica.
                         x-kubernetes-int-or-string: true
                       podRecoveryTimeout:
                         description: PodRecoveryTimeout is the time limit for recevorying