diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3739fd76..fe68355c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Changelog for Cass Operator, new PRs should update the `main / unreleased` secti
 
 * [FEATURE] [#651](https://github.com/k8ssandra/cass-operator/issues/651) Add tsreload task for DSE deployments and ability to check if sync operation is available on the mgmt-api side
 * [FEATURE] [#701](https://github.com/k8ssandra/cass-operator/issues/701) Allow ReadOnlyRootFilesystem for DSE also with extra mounts to provide support for cass-config-builder setups
+* [BUGFIX] [#708](https://github.com/k8ssandra/cass-operator/issues/708) Preserve existing SecurityContext when ReadOnlyRootFilesystem is set
 
 ## v1.22.2
 
diff --git a/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec.go b/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec.go
index 17934205..4caa80ed 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec.go
@@ -706,9 +706,10 @@ func buildContainers(dc *api.CassandraDatacenter, baseTemplate *corev1.PodTempla
 	}
 
 	if dc.ReadOnlyFs() {
-		cassContainer.SecurityContext = &corev1.SecurityContext{
-			ReadOnlyRootFilesystem: ptr.To[bool](true),
+		if cassContainer.SecurityContext == nil {
+			cassContainer.SecurityContext = &corev1.SecurityContext{}
 		}
+		cassContainer.SecurityContext.ReadOnlyRootFilesystem = ptr.To[bool](true)
 	}
 
 	// Combine env vars
diff --git a/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec_test.go b/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec_test.go
index 293a26c5..43ef4265 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciliation/construct_podtemplatespec_test.go
@@ -2310,3 +2310,90 @@ func TestReadOnlyRootFilesystemVolumeChangesDSEWithClient(t *testing.T) {
 	mcacDisabled := corev1.EnvVar{Name: "MGMT_API_DISABLE_MCAC", Value: "true"}
 	assert.True(envVarsContains(containers[0].Env, mcacDisabled))
 }
+
+func TestReadOnlyRootFilesystemWithSecurityContext(t *testing.T) {
+	assert := assert.New(t)
+	dc := &api.CassandraDatacenter{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Annotations: map[string]string{
+				api.UseClientBuilderAnnotation: "true",
+			},
+		},
+		Spec: api.CassandraDatacenterSpec{
+			ClusterName:   "bob",
+			ServerType:    "dse",
+			ServerVersion: "6.9.2",
+			PodTemplateSpec: &corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: ServerBaseConfigContainerName,
+							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+								Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+							},
+						},
+						{
+							Name: ServerConfigContainerName,
+							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+								Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: CassandraContainerName,
+							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+								Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+							},
+						},
+						{
+							Name: SystemLoggerContainerName,
+							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+								Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			ReadOnlyRootFilesystem: ptr.To[bool](true),
+			Racks: []api.Rack{
+				{
+					Name: "r1",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	podTemplateSpec, err := buildPodTemplateSpec(dc, dc.Spec.Racks[0], false)
+	assert.NoError(err, "failed to build PodTemplateSpec")
+
+	initContainers := podTemplateSpec.Spec.InitContainers
+	assert.Len(initContainers, 2, "Unexpected number of init containers returned")
+
+	containers := podTemplateSpec.Spec.Containers
+	assert.Len(containers, 2, "Unexpected number of containers returned")
+
+	// The cassandra container should get readOnlyRootFilesystem from the top-level field, but also retain the
+	// capabilities from the podTemplateSpec.
+	assert.Equal(CassandraContainerName, containers[0].Name)
+	assert.True(reflect.DeepEqual(containers[0].SecurityContext, &corev1.SecurityContext{
+		ReadOnlyRootFilesystem: ptr.To[bool](true),
+		Capabilities:           &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+	}))
+
+	// Other containers should just get the podTemplateSpec contents.
+	assert.Equal(ServerBaseConfigContainerName, initContainers[0].Name)
+	assert.True(reflect.DeepEqual(initContainers[0].SecurityContext, &corev1.SecurityContext{
+		Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+	}))
+
+	assert.Equal(ServerConfigContainerName, initContainers[1].Name)
+	assert.True(reflect.DeepEqual(initContainers[1].SecurityContext, &corev1.SecurityContext{
+		Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+	}))
+
+	assert.Equal(SystemLoggerContainerName, containers[1].Name)
+	assert.True(reflect.DeepEqual(containers[1].SecurityContext, &corev1.SecurityContext{
+		Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}},
+	}))
+}