diff --git a/config/base/catalogd/crd/experimental/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/catalogd/crd/experimental/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2069f1c13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/base/catalogd/crd/experimental/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+- olm.operatorframework.io_clustercatalogs.yaml
diff --git a/config/base/catalogd/crd/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/catalogd/crd/kustomization.yaml
index ff2cde82c..5d7501c33 100644
--- a/config/base/catalogd/crd/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/base/catalogd/crd/kustomization.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-# This kustomization.yaml is not intended to be run by itself,
-# since it depends on service name and namespace that are out of this kustomize package.
-# It should be run by config/default
+# This kustomization picks the standard CRD by default
+# If the experimental CRD is desired, select that directory explicitly
 resources:
-- standard/olm.operatorframework.io_clustercatalogs.yaml
-#+kubebuilder:scaffold:crdkustomizeresource
+- standard
diff --git a/config/base/catalogd/crd/standard/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/catalogd/crd/standard/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2069f1c13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/base/catalogd/crd/standard/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+- olm.operatorframework.io_clustercatalogs.yaml
diff --git a/config/base/operator-controller/crd/experimental/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/experimental/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c4db41af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/experimental/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+- olm.operatorframework.io_clusterextensions.yaml
diff --git a/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomization.yaml
index be905c9f0..5d7501c33 100644
--- a/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomization.yaml
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
-# This kustomization.yaml is not intended to be run by itself,
-# since it depends on service name and namespace that are out of this kustomize package.
-# It should be run by config/default
+# This kustomization picks the standard CRD by default
+# If the experimental CRD is desired, select that directory explicitly
 resources:
-- standard/olm.operatorframework.io_clusterextensions.yaml
-
-# the following config is for teaching kustomize how to do kustomization for CRDs.
-configurations:
-- kustomizeconfig.yaml
+- standard
diff --git a/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomizeconfig.yaml b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomizeconfig.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index ec5c150a9..000000000
--- a/config/base/operator-controller/crd/kustomizeconfig.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-# This file is for teaching kustomize how to substitute name and namespace reference in CRD
-nameReference:
-- kind: Service
-  version: v1
-  fieldSpecs:
-  - kind: CustomResourceDefinition
-    version: v1
-    group: apiextensions.k8s.io
-    path: spec/conversion/webhook/clientConfig/service/name
-
-namespace:
-- kind: CustomResourceDefinition
-  version: v1
-  group: apiextensions.k8s.io
-  path: spec/conversion/webhook/clientConfig/service/namespace
-  create: false
-
-varReference:
-- path: metadata/annotations
diff --git a/config/base/operator-controller/crd/standard/kustomization.yaml b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/standard/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c4db41af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/base/operator-controller/crd/standard/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resources:
+- olm.operatorframework.io_clusterextensions.yaml