diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 2d376980..a8dcaab2 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Version 0.9.0 (UNRELEASED)
 - Changes the workflow status endpoint to update the disk quota usage when a workspace is deleted.
 - Changes the CWD of jupyter's terminals to the directory of the workflow's workspace.
 - Changes the k8s specification of interactive sessions' pods to remove the environment variables used for service discovery.
+- Changes the workflow set status endpoint to remove the workspace by default when a workflow is deleted and to fail if the request is asking not to delete the workspace.
 
 Version 0.8.1 (2022-02-07)
 ---------------------------
diff --git a/reana_workflow_controller/rest/workflows_status.py b/reana_workflow_controller/rest/workflows_status.py
index b8acd5e5..37f41832 100644
--- a/reana_workflow_controller/rest/workflows_status.py
+++ b/reana_workflow_controller/rest/workflows_status.py
@@ -522,7 +522,16 @@ def set_workflow_status(workflow_id_or_name):  # noqa
             )
         elif status == DELETED:
             all_runs = True if request.json.get("all_runs") else False
-            workspace = True if request.json.get("workspace") else False
+            workspace = True if request.json.get("workspace", True) else False
+            if not workspace:
+                return (
+                    jsonify(
+                        {
+                            "message": "Workspace must always be deleted when deleting a workflow.",
+                        }
+                    ),
+                    400,
+                )
             return delete_workflow(workflow, all_runs, workspace)
         if status == STOP:
             stop_workflow(workflow)
diff --git a/tests/test_views.py b/tests/test_views.py
index b7d841d5..98119954 100644
--- a/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/tests/test_views.py
@@ -1184,7 +1184,9 @@ def test_delete_all_workflow_runs(
         assert workflow.status == RunStatus.deleted
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("workspace", [True, False])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "workspace", [True, pytest.param(False, marks=pytest.mark.xfail(strict=True))]
+)
 def test_workspace_deletion(
     app,
     session,
@@ -1231,6 +1233,7 @@ def test_workspace_deletion(
                 content_type="application/json",
                 data=json.dumps({"workspace": workspace}),
             )
+            assert res.status_code == 200
         if workspace:
             assert not os.path.exists(workflow.workspace_path)