diff --git a/controller.go b/controller.go
index 82611e95..439fafa5 100644
--- a/controller.go
+++ b/controller.go
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ func (c *Controller) updateFooStatus(foo *samplev1alpha1.Foo, deployment *appsv1
 	// we must use Update instead of UpdateStatus to update the Status block of the Foo resource.
 	// UpdateStatus will not allow changes to the Spec of the resource,
 	// which is ideal for ensuring nothing other than resource status has been updated.
-	_, err := c.sampleclientset.SamplecontrollerV1alpha1().Foos(foo.Namespace).Update(context.TODO(), fooCopy, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+	_, err := c.sampleclientset.SamplecontrollerV1alpha1().Foos(foo.Namespace).UpdateStatus(context.TODO(), fooCopy, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
 	return err
 }
 
diff --git a/controller_test.go b/controller_test.go
index c6f103da..75741a72 100644
--- a/controller_test.go
+++ b/controller_test.go
@@ -236,9 +236,7 @@ func (f *fixture) expectUpdateDeploymentAction(d *apps.Deployment) {
 }
 
 func (f *fixture) expectUpdateFooStatusAction(foo *samplecontroller.Foo) {
-	action := core.NewUpdateAction(schema.GroupVersionResource{Resource: "foos"}, foo.Namespace, foo)
-	// TODO: Until #38113 is merged, we can't use Subresource
-	//action.Subresource = "status"
+	action := core.NewUpdateSubresourceAction(schema.GroupVersionResource{Resource: "foos"}, "status", foo.Namespace, foo)
 	f.actions = append(f.actions, action)
 }