diff --git a/development-docs/systemtests/io.strimzi.systemtest.cruisecontrol.CruiseControlST.md b/development-docs/systemtests/io.strimzi.systemtest.cruisecontrol.CruiseControlST.md
index 274048a341b..67a5088d297 100644
--- a/development-docs/systemtests/io.strimzi.systemtest.cruisecontrol.CruiseControlST.md
+++ b/development-docs/systemtests/io.strimzi.systemtest.cruisecontrol.CruiseControlST.md
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 | 6. | Verify that Kafka auto-rebalance status transitions to RebalanceOnScaleUp and then back to Idle. | Auto-rebalance status moves to RebalanceOnScaleUp during scaling and returns to Idle after rebalancing completes. |
 | 7. | Check that topic replicas are moved to the new brokers. | Topic replicas are distributed onto the newly added brokers. |
 | 8. | Change number of replicas of Kafka cluster to initial replicas within KafkaNodePool (i.e., 3 brokers) | KafkaNodePool is set successfully to 3 replicas and auto-rebalance is triggered. |
-| 9. | After auto-rebalance is done, Kafka cluster is scale-down to the original number of brokers. | Kafka brokers are scaled down before of free partitions |
+| 9. | After auto-rebalance is done, Kafka cluster is scale-down to the original number of brokers. | Kafka brokers are scaled down because there are no hosted partitions anymore that would prevent such an operation. |
 | 10. | Verify that Kafka auto-rebalance status transitions to RebalanceOnScaleDown and then back to Idle. | Auto-rebalance status moves to RebalanceOnScaleDown during scaling down and returns to Idle after rebalancing completes. |
 | 11. | Confirm that the cluster is stable after scaling operations. | Cluster returns to a stable state with initial number of brokers and Cruise Control completed the rebalancing. |
 
diff --git a/systemtest/src/test/java/io/strimzi/systemtest/cruisecontrol/CruiseControlST.java b/systemtest/src/test/java/io/strimzi/systemtest/cruisecontrol/CruiseControlST.java
index 22cb388ba4a..0bd4082621f 100644
--- a/systemtest/src/test/java/io/strimzi/systemtest/cruisecontrol/CruiseControlST.java
+++ b/systemtest/src/test/java/io/strimzi/systemtest/cruisecontrol/CruiseControlST.java
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ void testKafkaRebalanceAutoApprovalMechanism() {
             @Step(value = "Verify that Kafka auto-rebalance status transitions to RebalanceOnScaleUp and then back to Idle.", expected = "Auto-rebalance status moves to RebalanceOnScaleUp during scaling and returns to Idle after rebalancing completes."),
             @Step(value = "Check that topic replicas are moved to the new brokers.", expected = "Topic replicas are distributed onto the newly added brokers."),
             @Step(value = "Change number of replicas of Kafka cluster to initial replicas within KafkaNodePool (i.e., 3 brokers)", expected = "KafkaNodePool is set successfully to 3 replicas and auto-rebalance is triggered."),
-            @Step(value = "After auto-rebalance is done, Kafka cluster is scale-down to the original number of brokers.", expected = "Kafka brokers are scaled down before of free partitions"),
+            @Step(value = "After auto-rebalance is done, Kafka cluster is scale-down to the original number of brokers.", expected = "Kafka brokers are scaled down because there are no hosted partitions anymore that would prevent such an operation."),
             @Step(value = "Verify that Kafka auto-rebalance status transitions to RebalanceOnScaleDown and then back to Idle.", expected = "Auto-rebalance status moves to RebalanceOnScaleDown during scaling down and returns to Idle after rebalancing completes."),
             @Step(value = "Confirm that the cluster is stable after scaling operations.", expected = "Cluster returns to a stable state with initial number of brokers and Cruise Control completed the rebalancing.")
         },
@@ -767,6 +767,8 @@ void testAutoKafkaRebalanceScaleUpScaleDown() {
             KafkaResource.replaceKafkaResourceInSpecificNamespace(testStorage.getNamespaceName(), testStorage.getClusterName(), kafka -> kafka.getSpec().getKafka().setReplicas(initialReplicas));
         }
 
+        // TODO: ScaleDownPreventionCheck here is also preventionCheck (because no re-balance has happen) and there are still hosted partitions
+
         KafkaUtils.waitUntilKafkaHasExpectedAutoRebalanceModeAndBrokers(testStorage.getNamespaceName(), testStorage.getClusterName(),
             KafkaRebalanceMode.REMOVE_BROKERS,
             // brokers with [6, 7]