Embodiments described herein are directed to methods for controlling user equipment (UE) beamforming in a wireless network. According to certain embodiments, a (UE) can receive one or more beam reference signals included in a restricted set of useable beam reference signals for adjusting the UE beamforming. Further, the UE can receive one or more beam reference signals outside of the restricted set. It can be determined whether to update the restricted set to include a subset of the one or more beam reference signals outside of the restricted set, based on predetermined criteria. The UE beamforming can be adjusted based on beam reference signals in the restricted set.