diff --git a/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/resource/ResourceFactory.java b/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/resource/ResourceFactory.java
index f07dae3b69..e02552639c 100644
--- a/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/resource/ResourceFactory.java
+++ b/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/resource/ResourceFactory.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import static io.apicurio.registry.operator.resource.app.AppDeploymentResource.getContainerFromPodTemplateSpec;
 import static io.apicurio.registry.operator.utils.Mapper.YAML_MAPPER;
 import static io.apicurio.registry.operator.utils.Utils.isBlank;
-import static io.apicurio.registry.operator.utils.Utils.mergeNotOverride;
 
 public class ResourceFactory {
 
@@ -141,7 +140,12 @@ private static void mergeDeploymentPodTemplateSpec(
         if (c.getPorts() == null) {
             c.setPorts(new ArrayList<>());
         }
-        mergeNotOverride(c.getPorts(), ports, ContainerPort::getName);
+        var targetPorts = c.getPorts();
+        ports.forEach(sourcePort -> {
+            if (!targetPorts.stream().anyMatch(targetPort -> sourcePort.getName().equals(targetPort.getName()))) {
+                targetPorts.add(sourcePort);
+            }
+        });
         if (c.getReadinessProbe() == null) {
             c.setReadinessProbe(readinessProbe);
         }
diff --git a/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/utils/Utils.java b/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/utils/Utils.java
index df4f6986e2..8def09677c 100644
--- a/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/utils/Utils.java
+++ b/operator/controller/src/main/java/io/apicurio/registry/operator/utils/Utils.java
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
 package io.apicurio.registry.operator.utils;
 
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.function.Function;
-
-import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
-
 public class Utils {
 
     private Utils() {
@@ -15,41 +9,4 @@ public static boolean isBlank(String value) {
         return value == null || value.isBlank();
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Merge source map into target map, NOT overriding any entries with the same key.
-     *
-     * @param target must not be null
-     */
-    public static <V> void mergeNotOverride(Map<String, V> target, Map<String, V> source) {
-        requireNonNull(target);
-        if (source != null) {
-            source.forEach(target::putIfAbsent);
-        }
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Merge source list into target list, NOT overriding any items based on the equality of the extracted
-     * key.
-     *
-     * @param target must not be null
-     */
-    public static <T, K> void mergeNotOverride(List<T> target, List<T> source, Function<T, K> extractKey) {
-        requireNonNull(target);
-        if (source != null) {
-            for (T sval : source) {
-                K skey = extractKey.apply(sval);
-                boolean skip = false;
-                for (int ti = 0; ti < target.size(); ti++) {
-                    K tkey = extractKey.apply(target.get(ti));
-                    if (skey.equals(tkey)) {
-                        skip = true;
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
-                if (!skip) {
-                    target.add(sval);
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
 }