diff --git a/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling.go b/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling.go
index 4470acf8..6614f4f9 100644
--- a/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling.go
+++ b/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling.go
@@ -86,16 +86,16 @@ func evalAsDuration(input string, env map[string]interface{}) (time.Duration, er
 	}
 }
 
-func RequeueAfter(step dfv1.Step, currentReplicas, desiredReplicas int) (time.Duration, error) {
-	if currentReplicas <= 0 && desiredReplicas == 0 {
-		scale := step.Spec.Scale
-		if scalingDelay, err := evalAsDuration(scale.ScalingDelay, map[string]interface{}{
-			"defaultScalingDelay": defaultScalingDelay,
-		}); err != nil {
-			return 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to evaluate %q: %w", scale.ScalingDelay, err)
-		} else {
-			return scalingDelay, nil
-		}
+func RequeueAfter(step dfv1.Step) (time.Duration, error) {
+	scale := step.Spec.Scale
+	if scale.DesiredReplicas == "" {
+		return 0, nil
+	}
+	if scalingDelay, err := evalAsDuration(scale.ScalingDelay, map[string]interface{}{
+		"defaultScalingDelay": defaultScalingDelay,
+	}); err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to evaluate %q: %w", scale.ScalingDelay, err)
+	} else {
+		return scalingDelay, nil
 	}
-	return 0, nil
 }
diff --git a/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling_test.go b/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling_test.go
index 643736e5..22f8a335 100644
--- a/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling_test.go
+++ b/manager/controllers/scaling/scaling_test.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func TestGetDesiredReplicas(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestRequeueAfter(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("ScaledUp", func(t *testing.T) {
-		requeueAfter, err := RequeueAfter(dfv1.Step{}, 1, 0)
+		requeueAfter, err := RequeueAfter(dfv1.Step{})
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, time.Duration(0), requeueAfter)
 	})
@@ -79,16 +79,16 @@ func TestRequeueAfter(t *testing.T) {
 			Spec: dfv1.StepSpec{
 				Scale: dfv1.Scale{ScalingDelay: `"4m"`},
 			},
-		}, 0, 1)
+		})
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, time.Duration(0), requeueAfter)
 	})
 	t.Run("NoPeek", func(t *testing.T) {
 		requeueAfter, err := RequeueAfter(dfv1.Step{
 			Spec: dfv1.StepSpec{
-				Scale: dfv1.Scale{ScalingDelay: `"4m"`},
+				Scale: dfv1.Scale{ScalingDelay: `"4m"`, DesiredReplicas: `limit(pending / (10 * 60 * 1000), 0, 1, 1)`},
 			},
-		}, 0, 0)
+		})
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, 4*time.Minute, requeueAfter)
 	})
diff --git a/manager/controllers/step_controller.go b/manager/controllers/step_controller.go
index f828e680..a1832b87 100644
--- a/manager/controllers/step_controller.go
+++ b/manager/controllers/step_controller.go
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ func (r *StepReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.
 		}
 	}
 
-	requeueAfter, err := scaling.RequeueAfter(*step, currentReplicas, desiredReplicas)
+	requeueAfter, err := scaling.RequeueAfter(*step)
 	if err != nil {
 		return ctrl.Result{}, err
 	}