diff --git a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert.go b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert.go
index f3a1ee1b0dd8..65324518428f 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert.go
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ func AssertionsForScaleUpDown(catalogue *hardware.Catalogue, currentSpec *cluste
 
 		for _, nodeGroupNewSpec := range spec.Cluster.Spec.WorkerNodeGroupConfigurations {
 			if workerNodeGrpOldSpec, ok := workerNodeGroupMap[nodeGroupNewSpec.Name]; ok {
-				if nodeGroupNewSpec.Count != workerNodeGrpOldSpec.Count {
+				if *nodeGroupNewSpec.Count != *workerNodeGrpOldSpec.Count {
 					if rollingUpgrade {
 						return fmt.Errorf("cannot perform scale up or down during rolling upgrades")
 					}
diff --git a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert_test.go b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert_test.go
index a578e71cb57a..183ea2c539f1 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert_test.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/assert_test.go
@@ -401,6 +401,33 @@ func TestMinimumHardwareAvailableAssertionForCreate_InsufficientFailsWithoutExte
 	g.Expect(assertion(clusterSpec)).ToNot(gomega.Succeed())
 }
 
+func TestAssertionsForScaleUpDown_Success(t *testing.T) {
+	g := gomega.NewWithT(t)
+
+	catalogue := hardware.NewCatalogue()
+	clusterSpec := NewDefaultValidClusterSpecBuilder().Build()
+	clusterSpec.Spec.Cluster.Spec.ExternalEtcdConfiguration = nil
+
+	assertion := tinkerbell.AssertionsForScaleUpDown(catalogue, clusterSpec.Spec, true)
+	newClusterSpec := NewDefaultValidClusterSpecBuilder().Build()
+	newClusterSpec.Spec.Cluster.Spec.ExternalEtcdConfiguration = nil
+	g.Expect(assertion(newClusterSpec)).To(gomega.Succeed())
+}
+
+func TestAssertionsForScaleUpDown_FailsScaleUpAndRollingError(t *testing.T) {
+	g := gomega.NewWithT(t)
+
+	catalogue := hardware.NewCatalogue()
+	clusterSpec := NewDefaultValidClusterSpecBuilder().Build()
+	clusterSpec.Spec.Cluster.Spec.ExternalEtcdConfiguration = nil
+
+	assertion := tinkerbell.AssertionsForScaleUpDown(catalogue, clusterSpec.Spec, true)
+	newClusterSpec := NewDefaultValidClusterSpecBuilder().Build()
+	newClusterSpec.Spec.Cluster.Spec.ExternalEtcdConfiguration = nil
+	newClusterSpec.WorkerNodeGroupConfigurations()[0].Count = ptr.Int(2)
+	g.Expect(assertion(newClusterSpec)).NotTo(gomega.Succeed())
+}
+
 func TestHardwareSatisfiesOnlyOneSelectorAssertion_MeetsOnlyOneSelector(t *testing.T) {
 	g := gomega.NewWithT(t)
 
diff --git a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/tinkerbell_test.go b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/tinkerbell_test.go
index 13e4ade3bacc..ae5c34eb2947 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/tinkerbell_test.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/tinkerbell_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/aws/eks-anywhere/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/stack"
 	stackmocks "github.com/aws/eks-anywhere/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/stack/mocks"
 	"github.com/aws/eks-anywhere/pkg/types"
+	"github.com/aws/eks-anywhere/pkg/utils/ptr"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -857,3 +858,23 @@ func TestProviderGenerateDeploymentFileForSingleNodeClusterSkipLB(t *testing.T)
 	}
 	test.AssertContentToFile(t, string(cp), "testdata/expected_results_cluster_tinkerbell_cp_single_node_skip_lb.yaml")
 }
+
+func TestTinkerbellTemplate_isScaleUpDownSuccess(t *testing.T) {
+	clusterSpecManifest := "cluster_tinkerbell_stacked_etcd.yaml"
+	mockCtrl := gomock.NewController(t)
+	docker := stackmocks.NewMockDocker(mockCtrl)
+	helm := stackmocks.NewMockHelm(mockCtrl)
+	kubectl := mocks.NewMockProviderKubectlClient(mockCtrl)
+	writer := filewritermocks.NewMockFileWriter(mockCtrl)
+	forceCleanup := false
+
+	clusterSpec := givenClusterSpec(t, clusterSpecManifest)
+	datacenterConfig := givenDatacenterConfig(t, clusterSpecManifest)
+	machineConfigs := givenMachineConfigs(t, clusterSpecManifest)
+
+	newClusterSpec := clusterSpec.DeepCopy()
+	newClusterSpec.Cluster.Spec.WorkerNodeGroupConfigurations[0].Count = ptr.Int(2)
+
+	provider := newProvider(datacenterConfig, machineConfigs, clusterSpec.Cluster, writer, docker, helm, kubectl, forceCleanup)
+	assert.True(t, provider.isScaleUpDown(clusterSpec.Cluster, newClusterSpec.Cluster), "expected scale up down true")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/upgrade.go b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/upgrade.go
index a473247e89aa..19ca132c92c4 100644
--- a/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/upgrade.go
+++ b/pkg/providers/tinkerbell/upgrade.go
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ func (p *Provider) isScaleUpDown(oldCluster *v1alpha1.Cluster, newCluster *v1alp
 
 	for _, nodeGroupNewSpec := range newCluster.Spec.WorkerNodeGroupConfigurations {
 		if workerNodeGrpOldSpec, ok := workerNodeGroupMap[nodeGroupNewSpec.Name]; ok {
-			if nodeGroupNewSpec.Count != workerNodeGrpOldSpec.Count {
+			if *nodeGroupNewSpec.Count != *workerNodeGrpOldSpec.Count {
 				return true
 			}
 		}