diff --git a/src/adapter/src/coord.rs b/src/adapter/src/coord.rs
index badb084ef12b7..97ff33ad5f5f9 100644
--- a/src/adapter/src/coord.rs
+++ b/src/adapter/src/coord.rs
@@ -832,6 +832,7 @@ pub struct AlterClusterWaitForHydrated {
     validity: PlanValidity,
     plan: plan::AlterClusterPlan,
     new_config: ClusterVariantManaged,
+    workload_class: Option<String>,
     timeout_time: Instant,
     on_timeout: OnTimeoutAction,
 }
@@ -841,6 +842,7 @@ pub struct AlterClusterFinalize {
     validity: PlanValidity,
     plan: plan::AlterClusterPlan,
     new_config: ClusterVariantManaged,
+    workload_class: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
diff --git a/src/adapter/src/coord/sequencer/inner/cluster.rs b/src/adapter/src/coord/sequencer/inner/cluster.rs
index b51b6aae5a752..d5e88a26a203b 100644
--- a/src/adapter/src/coord/sequencer/inner/cluster.rs
+++ b/src/adapter/src/coord/sequencer/inner/cluster.rs
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ impl Staged for ClusterStage {
                     validity,
                     plan,
                     new_config,
+                    workload_class,
                     timeout_time,
                     on_timeout,
                 } = stage;
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ impl Staged for ClusterStage {
                         ctx.session(),
                         plan,
                         new_config,
+                        workload_class,
                         timeout_time,
                         on_timeout,
                         validity,
@@ -96,6 +98,7 @@ impl Staged for ClusterStage {
                         ctx.session(),
                         stage.plan.clone(),
                         stage.new_config.clone(),
+                        stage.workload_class.clone(),
                     )
                     .await
             }
@@ -295,6 +298,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
                             let span = Span::current();
                             let plan = plan.clone();
                             let duration = duration.clone().to_owned();
+                            let workload_class = new_config.workload_class.clone();
                             Ok(StageResult::Handle(mz_ore::task::spawn(
                                 || "Finalize Alter Cluster",
                                 async move {
@@ -303,6 +307,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
                                         validity,
                                         plan,
                                         new_config: new_config_managed,
+                                        workload_class,
                                     });
                                     Ok(Box::new(stage))
                                 }
@@ -317,6 +322,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
                                 validity,
                                 plan: plan.clone(),
                                 new_config: new_config_managed.clone(),
+                                workload_class: new_config.workload_class.clone(),
                                 timeout_time: Instant::now() + timeout.to_owned(),
                                 on_timeout: on_timeout.to_owned(),
                             }),
@@ -362,9 +368,9 @@ impl Coordinator {
             ..
         }: AlterClusterPlan,
         new_config: ClusterVariantManaged,
+        workload_class: Option<String>,
     ) -> Result<StageResult<Box<ClusterStage>>, AdapterError> {
         let cluster = self.catalog.get_cluster(cluster_id);
-        let workload_class = cluster.config.workload_class.clone();
         let mut ops = vec![];
 
         // Gather the ops to remove the non pending replicas
@@ -484,6 +490,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
         session: &Session,
         plan: AlterClusterPlan,
         new_config: ClusterVariantManaged,
+        workload_class: Option<String>,
         timeout_time: Instant,
         on_timeout: OnTimeoutAction,
         validity: PlanValidity,
@@ -529,6 +536,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
                                 validity,
                                 plan,
                                 new_config,
+                                workload_class,
                             });
                             Ok(Box::new(stage))
                         }
@@ -562,7 +570,8 @@ impl Coordinator {
                     Ok(Box::new(ClusterStage::Finalize(AlterClusterFinalize {
                         validity,
                         plan,
-                        new_config,
+                        new_config: new_config.clone(),
+                        workload_class: workload_class.clone(),
                     })))
                 } else {
                     // Check later
@@ -571,6 +580,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
                         validity,
                         plan,
                         new_config,
+                        workload_class,
                         timeout_time,
                         on_timeout,
                     });
diff --git a/test/sqllogictest/managed_cluster.slt b/test/sqllogictest/managed_cluster.slt
index 2053eb650143b..2ad2cec301c7f 100644
--- a/test/sqllogictest/managed_cluster.slt
+++ b/test/sqllogictest/managed_cluster.slt
@@ -416,5 +416,41 @@ ALTER CLUSTER foo set (SIZE 'scale=1,workers=4') WITH (WAIT UNTIL READY (TIMEOUT
 statement ok
 ALTER CLUSTER foo set (SIZE 'scale=1,workers=4') WITH (WAIT UNTIL READY (TIMEOUT '10ms', ON TIMEOUT 'ROLLBACK') )
 
+statement ok
+DROP CLUSTER foo
+
+# Regression: zero-downtime finalization (PR #28836) reads workload_class from
+# the catalog instead of the planned config, silently dropping the change.
+
+simple conn=mz_system,user=mz_system
+CREATE CLUSTER wc_test SIZE 'scale=1,workers=1'
+----
+COMPLETE 0
+
+simple conn=mz_system,user=mz_system
+ALTER CLUSTER wc_test SET (SIZE 'scale=1,workers=2', WORKLOAD CLASS 'production') WITH (WAIT FOR '0s')
+----
+COMPLETE 0
+
+query T
+SELECT workload_class FROM mz_internal.mz_cluster_workload_classes WHERE id = (SELECT id FROM mz_clusters WHERE name = 'wc_test')
+----
+production
+
+simple conn=mz_system,user=mz_system
+ALTER CLUSTER wc_test SET (SIZE 'scale=1,workers=4', WORKLOAD CLASS NULL) WITH (WAIT UNTIL READY (TIMEOUT '0s', ON TIMEOUT 'COMMIT'))
+----
+COMPLETE 0
+
+query T
+SELECT workload_class FROM mz_internal.mz_cluster_workload_classes WHERE id = (SELECT id FROM mz_clusters WHERE name = 'wc_test')
+----
+NULL
+
+simple conn=mz_system,user=mz_system
+DROP CLUSTER wc_test
+----
+COMPLETE 0
+
 # Restore pristine server state
 reset-server