diff --git a/functional_tests/functional_test.go b/functional_tests/functional_test.go
index a96b045d4..248afbe42 100644
--- a/functional_tests/functional_test.go
+++ b/functional_tests/functional_test.go
@@ -172,41 +172,6 @@ func deployChartsAndApps(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// deploy the operator CRDs
-	stream, err = os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(testDir, manifestsDir, "operator_crds.yaml"))
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	for _, resourceYAML := range strings.Split(string(stream), "---") {
-		if len(resourceYAML) == 0 {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		obj, groupVersionKind, err := decode(
-			[]byte(resourceYAML),
-			nil,
-			nil)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		if groupVersionKind.Group == "apiextensions.k8s.io" &&
-			groupVersionKind.Version == "v1" &&
-			groupVersionKind.Kind == "CustomResourceDefinition" {
-			crd := obj.(*appextensionsv1.CustomResourceDefinition)
-			apiExtensions := extensionsClient.ApiextensionsV1().CustomResourceDefinitions()
-			crd, err := apiExtensions.Create(context.Background(), crd, metav1.CreateOptions{})
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-			t.Logf("Deployed CRD %s", crd.Name)
-			for _, version := range crd.Spec.Versions {
-				sch.AddKnownTypeWithName(
-					schema.GroupVersionKind{
-						Group:   crd.Spec.Group,
-						Version: version.Name,
-						Kind:    crd.Spec.Names.Kind,
-					},
-					&unstructured.Unstructured{},
-				)
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	codecs := serializer.NewCodecFactory(sch)
 	crdDecode := codecs.UniversalDeserializer().Decode
 	// Prometheus pod monitor
@@ -536,29 +501,6 @@ func teardown(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	crdstream, err = os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(testDir, manifestsDir, "operator_crds.yaml"))
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	for _, resourceYAML := range strings.Split(string(crdstream), "---") {
-		if len(resourceYAML) == 0 {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		obj, groupVersionKind, err := decode(
-			[]byte(resourceYAML),
-			nil,
-			nil)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		if groupVersionKind.Group == "apiextensions.k8s.io" &&
-			groupVersionKind.Version == "v1" &&
-			groupVersionKind.Kind == "CustomResourceDefinition" {
-			crd := obj.(*appextensionsv1.CustomResourceDefinition)
-			apiExtensions := extensionsClient.ApiextensionsV1().CustomResourceDefinitions()
-			_ = apiExtensions.Delete(context.Background(), crd.Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{
-				GracePeriodSeconds: &waitTime,
-			})
-		}
-	}
-
 	for _, nm := range namespaces {
 		nmClient := client.CoreV1().Namespaces()
 		_ = nmClient.Delete(context.Background(), nm.Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{
diff --git a/functional_tests/testdata/values/aks_test_values.yaml.tmpl b/functional_tests/testdata/values/aks_test_values.yaml.tmpl
index 72fc1b23b..1dd0b0177 100644
--- a/functional_tests/testdata/values/aks_test_values.yaml.tmpl
+++ b/functional_tests/testdata/values/aks_test_values.yaml.tmpl
@@ -70,8 +70,6 @@ livenessProbe:
 
 operator:
   enabled: true
-  crds:
-    create: false
   admissionWebhooks:
     certManager:
       enabled: false
diff --git a/functional_tests/testdata/values/autopilot_test_values.yaml.tmpl b/functional_tests/testdata/values/autopilot_test_values.yaml.tmpl
index b8cf91534..acf197d8b 100644
--- a/functional_tests/testdata/values/autopilot_test_values.yaml.tmpl
+++ b/functional_tests/testdata/values/autopilot_test_values.yaml.tmpl
@@ -62,8 +62,6 @@ distribution: gke/autopilot
 
 operator:
   enabled: true
-  crds:
-    create: false
   admissionWebhooks:
     certManager:
       enabled: false
diff --git a/functional_tests/testdata/values/test_values.yaml.tmpl b/functional_tests/testdata/values/test_values.yaml.tmpl
index b0f8651cb..15eed00c1 100644
--- a/functional_tests/testdata/values/test_values.yaml.tmpl
+++ b/functional_tests/testdata/values/test_values.yaml.tmpl
@@ -71,8 +71,6 @@ extraAttributes:
 environment: dev
 operator:
   enabled: true
-  crds:
-    create: false
 targetAllocator:
   enabled: true
 
diff --git a/helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/opentelemetry.io_instrumentations.yaml b/helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/crds/opentelemetry.io_instrumentations.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/opentelemetry.io_instrumentations.yaml
rename to helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/crds/opentelemetry.io_instrumentations.yaml
diff --git a/helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/opentelemetry.io_opampbridges.yaml b/helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/crds/opentelemetry.io_opampbridges.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/opentelemetry.io_opampbridges.yaml
rename to helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/crds/opentelemetry.io_opampbridges.yaml
diff --git a/helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/opentelemetry.io_opentelemetrycollectors.yaml b/helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/crds/opentelemetry.io_opentelemetrycollectors.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/opentelemetry.io_opentelemetrycollectors.yaml
rename to helm-charts/splunk-otel-collector/charts/opentelemetry-operator-crds/crds/opentelemetry.io_opentelemetrycollectors.yaml