diff --git a/operator/Makefile b/operator/Makefile
index 17b5b417..fbc75106 100644
--- a/operator/Makefile
+++ b/operator/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-VERSION ?= 1.3.0
+VERSION ?= 1.4.0
 BUILD_VERSION = $(VERSION)+$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 BUILD_TIME = $(shell date +%FT%T%z)
 
@@ -163,12 +163,12 @@ docker-buildx: ## Build and push docker image for the manager for cross-platform
 build-installer: require-img manifests generate kustomize ## Generate a consolidated YAML with CRDs and deployment.
 	mkdir -p dist
 	cd config/manager && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image controller=${IMG}
-	$(KUSTOMIZE) build config/default > dist/install.yaml
+	$(KUSTOMIZE) build config/default > dist/ais-operator.yaml
 
 .PHONY: build-installer-helm
 build-installer-helm: require-img helm helmify build-installer
 	mkdir -p dist/charts/
-	cat dist/install.yaml | $(HELMIFY) dist/charts/ais-operator
+	cat dist/ais-operator.yaml | $(HELMIFY) dist/charts/ais-operator
 	$(HELM) package dist/charts/ais-operator -d dist/
 	$(HELM) repo index --url $(REPO)/releases/download/$(VERSION) dist
 
diff --git a/operator/config/crd/kustomization.yaml b/operator/config/crd/kustomization.yaml
index 83f54c41..383a98e3 100644
--- a/operator/config/crd/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/crd/kustomization.yaml
@@ -5,16 +5,18 @@ resources:
 - bases/ais.nvidia.com_aistores.yaml
 # +kubebuilder:scaffold:crdkustomizeresource
 
-patchesStrategicMerge:
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+patches:
+# [CERTMANAGER] To enable webhook, uncomment all the sections with [CERTMANAGER] prefix.
+# patches here are for enabling the CA injection for each CRD
+  - path: patches/cainjection_in_aistores.yaml
 # [WEBHOOK] To enable webhook, uncomment all the sections with [WEBHOOK] prefix.
 # patches here are for enabling the conversion webhook for each CRD
-#- patches/webhook_in_aistores.yaml
-# +kubebuilder:scaffold:crdkustomizewebhookpatch
+# - path: patches/webhook_in_aistores.yaml
 
-# [CERTMANAGER] To enable webhook, uncomment all the sections with [CERTMANAGER] prefix.
-# patches here are for enabling the CA injection for each CRD
-- patches/cainjection_in_aistores.yaml
 # +kubebuilder:scaffold:crdkustomizecainjectionpatch
+# +kubebuilder:scaffold:crdkustomizewebhookpatch
 
 # the following config is for teaching kustomize how to do kustomization for CRDs.
 configurations:
diff --git a/operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml b/operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml
index 45ae2b8d..a8ee7672 100644
--- a/operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/default/kustomization.yaml
@@ -8,67 +8,58 @@ namespace: ais-operator-system
 # field above.
 namePrefix: ais-operator-
 
-# Labels to add to all resources and selectors.
-#commonLabels:
-#  someName: someValue
-
-bases:
-- ../crd
-- ../rbac
-- ../manager
-# [WEBHOOK] To enable webhook, uncomment all the sections with [WEBHOOK] prefix including the one in
-# crd/kustomization.yaml
-- ../webhook
-# [CERTMANAGER] To enable cert-manager, uncomment all sections with 'CERTMANAGER'. 'WEBHOOK' components are required.
-- ../certmanager
-# [PROMETHEUS] To enable prometheus monitor, uncomment all sections with 'PROMETHEUS'.
-#- ../prometheus
-
-patchesStrategicMerge:
-# Protect the /metrics endpoint by putting it behind auth.
-# If you want your controller-manager to expose the /metrics
-# endpoint w/o any authn/z, please comment the following line.
-- manager_auth_proxy_patch.yaml
-
-# Mount the controller config file for loading manager configurations
-# through a ComponentConfig type
-# - manager_config_patch.yaml
-
-# [WEBHOOK] To enable webhook, uncomment all the sections with [WEBHOOK] prefix including the one in
-# crd/kustomization.yaml
-- manager_webhook_patch.yaml
-
-# [CERTMANAGER] To enable cert-manager, uncomment all sections with 'CERTMANAGER'.
-# Uncomment 'CERTMANAGER' sections in crd/kustomization.yaml to enable the CA injection in the admission webhooks.
-# 'CERTMANAGER' needs to be enabled to use ca injection
-- webhookcainjection_patch.yaml
-
-# the following config is for teaching kustomize how to do var substitution
 vars:
-# [CERTMANAGER] To enable cert-manager, uncomment all sections with 'CERTMANAGER' prefix.
-- name: CERTIFICATE_NAMESPACE # namespace of the certificate CR
+- fieldref:
+    fieldPath: metadata.namespace
+  # namespace of the certificate CR
+  name: CERTIFICATE_NAMESPACE
   objref:
-   kind: Certificate
-   group: cert-manager.io
-   version: v1
-   name: serving-cert # this name should match the one in certificate.yaml
-  fieldref:
-    fieldpath: metadata.namespace
-- name: CERTIFICATE_NAME
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    kind: Certificate
+    # this name should match the one in certificate.yaml
+    name: serving-cert
+    version: v1
+- fieldref: {}
+  name: CERTIFICATE_NAME
   objref:
-   kind: Certificate
-   group: cert-manager.io
-   version: v1
-   name: serving-cert # this name should match the one in certificate.yaml
-- name: SERVICE_NAMESPACE # namespace of the service
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    kind: Certificate
+    # this name should match the one in certificate.yaml
+    name: serving-cert
+    version: v1
+- fieldref:
+    fieldPath: metadata.namespace
+  name: SERVICE_NAMESPACE
   objref:
     kind: Service
-    version: v1
     name: webhook-service
-  fieldref:
-    fieldpath: metadata.namespace
-- name: SERVICE_NAME
+    version: v1
+- fieldref: {}
+  name: SERVICE_NAME
   objref:
     kind: Service
-    version: v1
     name: webhook-service
+    version: v1
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+- ../crd
+- ../rbac
+- ../manager
+# [PROMETHEUS] To enable prometheus monitor, uncomment all sections with 'PROMETHEUS'.
+  #- ../prometheus
+# [WEBHOOK] To enable webhook, uncomment all the sections with [WEBHOOK] prefix including the one in
+  # crd/kustomization.yaml
+- ../webhook
+# [CERTMANAGER] To enable cert-manager, uncomment all sections with 'CERTMANAGER'. 'WEBHOOK' components are required.
+# Uncomment 'CERTMANAGER' sections in crd/kustomization.yaml to enable the CA injection in the admission webhooks.
+# 'CERTMANAGER' needs to be enabled to use ca injection
+- ../certmanager
+patches:
+  # Protect the /metrics endpoint by putting it behind auth.
+- path: manager_auth_proxy_patch.yaml
+- path: manager_webhook_patch.yaml
+- path: webhookcainjection_patch.yaml
+# Mount the controller config file for loading manager configurations
+# through a ComponentConfig type
+# - path: manager_config_patch.yaml