diff --git a/internal/controller/controller.go b/internal/controller/controller.go
index 37066045e91..5c4693d7d22 100644
--- a/internal/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/controller.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/util/log"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/leaderelection/resourcelock"
 	clientConfig "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/config"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
@@ -69,7 +71,11 @@ func Start(config Config) error {
 		LeaderElectionResourceLock: resourcelock.LeasesResourceLock,
 		LeaderElectionID:           electionID,
 	}
-	mgr, err := manager.New(clientConfig.GetConfigOrDie(), opts)
+
+	kubeConfig := clientConfig.GetConfigOrDie()
+	coreKubeConfig := rest.CopyConfig(kubeConfig)
+	coreKubeConfig.ContentType = runtime.ContentTypeProtobuf
+	mgr, err := manager.New(coreKubeConfig, opts)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.ErrorLogMsg("failed to create manager %s", err)
 
diff --git a/internal/util/k8s/client.go b/internal/util/k8s/client.go
index d5629fee54d..c7731db04e9 100644
--- a/internal/util/k8s/client.go
+++ b/internal/util/k8s/client.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ func NewK8sClient() (*kubernetes.Clientset, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get cluster config: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
+	cfg.ContentType = runtime.ContentTypeProtobuf
 	client, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create client: %w", err)