A user equipment may receive a configuration that indicates a density of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource elements and a set of locations of the DMRS resource elements in one or more resource element groups associated with a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); receive an indication of a change to at least one of the density of the DMRS resource elements or the set of locations of the DMRS resource elements, resulting in at least one of a modified density of the DMRS resource elements or a modified set of locations of the DMRS resource elements; and monitor for downlink control information in a search space associated with the PDCCH based at least in part on the at least one of the modified density of the DMRS resource elements or the modified set of locations of the DMRS resource elements.