diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0a202207c..dee2ccc3e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -299,7 +299,6 @@ ifneq ($(DEPLOYMENTNAMESPACE), default)
 	$(ROOTDIR)/scripts/kube_delete_namespace.sh $(DEPLOYMENTNAMESPACE)
 	kubectl create namespace $(DEPLOYMENTNAMESPACE)
 endif
-	kubectl apply -f manifests/crd.yaml
 	kubectl apply -f $(MANIFESTPATHSTORAGE)
 	kubectl apply -f $(MANIFESTPATHDEPLOYMENT)
 	kubectl apply -f $(MANIFESTPATHDEPLOYMENTREPLICATION)
@@ -407,7 +406,6 @@ delete-operator:
 
 .PHONY: redeploy-operator
 redeploy-operator: delete-operator manifests
-	kubectl apply -f manifests/crd.yaml
 	kubectl apply -f $(MANIFESTPATHSTORAGE)
 	kubectl apply -f $(MANIFESTPATHDEPLOYMENT)
 	kubectl apply -f $(MANIFESTPATHDEPLOYMENTREPLICATION)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 213aade4a..b7ad766fc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/0.3.0/
 
 ```bash
 DOCKERNAMESPACE=<your dockerhub account> make
-kubectl apply -f manifests/crd.yaml
 kubectl apply -f manifests/arango-deployment-dev.yaml
 # To use `ArangoLocalStorage`, also run
 kubectl apply -f manifests/arango-storage-dev.yaml
diff --git a/docs/Manual/Deployment/Kubernetes/Usage.md b/docs/Manual/Deployment/Kubernetes/Usage.md
index 1079310cf..dac960c3b 100644
--- a/docs/Manual/Deployment/Kubernetes/Usage.md
+++ b/docs/Manual/Deployment/Kubernetes/Usage.md
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ run (replace `<version>` with the version of the operator that you want to insta
 
 ```bash
 export URLPREFIX=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/<version>/manifests
-kubectl apply -f $URLPREFIX/crd.yaml
 kubectl apply -f $URLPREFIX/arango-deployment.yaml
 ```
 
diff --git a/docs/Manual/Tutorials/Kubernetes/README.md b/docs/Manual/Tutorials/Kubernetes/README.md
index a776fc6f0..5b641986d 100644
--- a/docs/Manual/Tutorials/Kubernetes/README.md
+++ b/docs/Manual/Tutorials/Kubernetes/README.md
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ For now, any recent Kubernetes cluster will do (e.g. `minikube`).
 Then run (replace `<version>` with the version of the operator that you want to install):
 
 ```bash
-kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/<version>/manifests/crd.yaml
 kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/<version>/manifests/arango-deployment.yaml
 # Optional
 kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/<version>/manifests/arango-storage.yaml
diff --git a/manifests/crd.yaml b/manifests/crd.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 7cce03231..000000000
--- a/manifests/crd.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: CustomResourceDefinition
-metadata:
-  name: arangodeployments.database.arangodb.com
-spec:
-  group: database.arangodb.com
-  names:
-    kind: ArangoDeployment
-    listKind: ArangoDeploymentList
-    plural: arangodeployments
-    shortNames:
-    - arangodb
-    - arango
-    singular: arangodeployment
-  scope: Namespaced
-  version: v1alpha
-
----
-
-apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: CustomResourceDefinition
-metadata:
-  name: arangodeploymentreplications.replication.database.arangodb.com
-spec:
-  group: replication.database.arangodb.com
-  names:
-    kind: ArangoDeploymentReplication
-    listKind: ArangoDeploymentReplicationList
-    plural: arangodeploymentreplications
-    shortNames:
-    - arangorepl
-    singular: arangodeploymentreplication
-  scope: Namespaced
-  version: v1alpha
-
----
-
-apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: CustomResourceDefinition
-metadata:
-  name: arangolocalstorages.storage.arangodb.com
-spec:
-  group: storage.arangodb.com
-  names:
-    kind: ArangoLocalStorage
-    listKind: ArangoLocalStorageList
-    plural: arangolocalstorages
-    shortNames:
-    - arangostorage
-    singular: arangolocalstorage
-  scope: Cluster
-  version: v1alpha
diff --git a/manifests/templates/deployment-replication/crd.yaml b/manifests/templates/deployment-replication/crd.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..829a06333
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/templates/deployment-replication/crd.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: CustomResourceDefinition
+metadata:
+  name: arangodeploymentreplications.replication.database.arangodb.com
+spec:
+  group: replication.database.arangodb.com
+  names:
+    kind: ArangoDeploymentReplication
+    listKind: ArangoDeploymentReplicationList
+    plural: arangodeploymentreplications
+    shortNames:
+    - arangorepl
+    singular: arangodeploymentreplication
+  scope: Namespaced
+  version: v1alpha
diff --git a/manifests/templates/deployment/crd.yaml b/manifests/templates/deployment/crd.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22959f997
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/templates/deployment/crd.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: CustomResourceDefinition
+metadata:
+  name: arangodeployments.database.arangodb.com
+spec:
+  group: database.arangodb.com
+  names:
+    kind: ArangoDeployment
+    listKind: ArangoDeploymentList
+    plural: arangodeployments
+    shortNames:
+    - arangodb
+    - arango
+    singular: arangodeployment
+  scope: Namespaced
+  version: v1alpha
diff --git a/manifests/templates/storage/crd.yaml b/manifests/templates/storage/crd.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b8c86f6a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/templates/storage/crd.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: CustomResourceDefinition
+metadata:
+  name: arangolocalstorages.storage.arangodb.com
+spec:
+  group: storage.arangodb.com
+  names:
+    kind: ArangoLocalStorage
+    listKind: ArangoLocalStorageList
+    plural: arangolocalstorages
+    shortNames:
+    - arangostorage
+    singular: arangolocalstorage
+  scope: Cluster
+  version: v1alpha
diff --git a/scripts/patch_readme.sh b/scripts/patch_readme.sh
index 523351a5b..e4cdfd084 100755
--- a/scripts/patch_readme.sh
+++ b/scripts/patch_readme.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ if [ -z $VERSION ]; then
 fi
 
 f=README.md
-sed -e "s@^kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/.*/manifests/crd.yaml\$@kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/${VERSION}/manifests/crd.yaml@g" -i "" $f
 sed -e "s@^kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/.*/manifests/arango-deployment.yaml\$@kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/${VERSION}/manifests/arango-deployment.yaml@g" -i "" $f
 sed -e "s@^kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/.*/manifests/arango-deployment-replication.yaml\$@kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/${VERSION}/manifests/arango-deployment-replication.yaml@g" -i "" $f
 sed -e "s@^kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/.*/manifests/arango-storage.yaml\$@kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arangodb/kube-arangodb/${VERSION}/manifests/arango-storage.yaml@g" -i "" $f
diff --git a/tools/manifests/manifest_builder.go b/tools/manifests/manifest_builder.go
index 7e0d7842b..c611c7085 100644
--- a/tools/manifests/manifest_builder.go
+++ b/tools/manifests/manifest_builder.go
@@ -56,16 +56,19 @@ var (
 		AllowChaos                        bool
 	}
 	deploymentTemplateNames = []Template{
+		Template{Name: "crd.yaml"},
 		Template{Name: "rbac.yaml", Predicate: hasRBAC},
 		Template{Name: "deployment.yaml"},
 		Template{Name: "service.yaml"},
 	}
 	deploymentReplicationTemplateNames = []Template{
+		Template{Name: "crd.yaml"},
 		Template{Name: "rbac.yaml", Predicate: hasRBAC},
 		Template{Name: "deployment-replication.yaml"},
 		Template{Name: "service.yaml"},
 	}
 	storageTemplateNames = []Template{
+		Template{Name: "crd.yaml"},
 		Template{Name: "rbac.yaml", Predicate: hasRBAC},
 		Template{Name: "deployment.yaml"},
 		Template{Name: "service.yaml"},