diff --git a/cmd/helm-operator/main.go b/cmd/helm-operator/main.go
index c72f70953..387d9cc2a 100644
--- a/cmd/helm-operator/main.go
+++ b/cmd/helm-operator/main.go
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ var (
 
 	listenAddr *string
 
+	versionedHelmRepositoryIndexes *[]string
+
 	enabledHelmVersions *[]string
 	defaultHelmVersion  *string
 )
@@ -120,11 +122,13 @@ func init() {
 	gitPollInterval = fs.Duration("git-poll-interval", 5*time.Minute, "period on which to poll git chart sources for changes")
 	gitDefaultRef = fs.String("git-default-ref", "master", "ref to clone chart from if ref is unspecified in a HelmRelease")
 
+	versionedHelmRepositoryIndexes = fs.StringSlice("helm-repository-import", nil, "Targeted version and the path of the Helm repository index to import, i.e. v3:/tmp/v3/index.yaml,v2:/tmp/v2/index.yaml")
+
 	enabledHelmVersions = fs.StringSlice("enabled-helm-versions", []string{v2.VERSION, v3.VERSION}, "Helm versions supported by this operator instance")
 }
 
 func main() {
-	// Explicitly initialize klog to enable stderr logging,
+	// explicitly initialize klog to enable stderr logging,
 	// and parse our own flags.
 	klog.InitFlags(nil)
 	fs.Parse(os.Args)
@@ -134,7 +138,7 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 
-	// Support enabling the Helm supported versions through an
+	// support enabling the Helm supported versions through an
 	// environment variable.
 	helmVersionEnv := getEnvAsSlice("HELM_VERSION", []string{})
 	if len(helmVersionEnv) > 0 && !fs.Changed("enabled-helm-versions") {
@@ -171,6 +175,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	mainLogger := log.With(logger, "component", "helm-operator")
 
+	// build Kubernetes clients
 	cfg, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags(*master, *kubeconfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		mainLogger.Log("error", fmt.Sprintf("error building kubeconfig: %v", err))
@@ -189,11 +194,14 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	// initialize versioned Helm clients
 	helmClients := &helm.Clients{}
 	for _, v := range *enabledHelmVersions {
+		versionedLogger := log.With(logger, "component", "helm", "version", v)
+
 		switch v {
 		case v2.VERSION:
-			helmClients.Add(v2.VERSION, v2.New(log.With(logger, "component", "helm", "version", "v2"), kubeClient, v2.TillerOptions{
+			helmClients.Add(v2.VERSION, v2.New(versionedLogger, kubeClient, v2.TillerOptions{
 				Host:        *tillerIP,
 				Port:        *tillerPort,
 				Namespace:   *tillerNamespace,
@@ -205,14 +213,10 @@ func main() {
 				TLSHostname: *tillerTLSHostname,
 			}))
 		case v3.VERSION:
-			client := v3.New(log.With(logger, "component", "helm", "version", "v3"), cfg)
-			// TODO(hidde): remove hardcoded path
-			if err := client.(*v3.HelmV3).RepositoryImport("/var/fluxd/helm/repository/repositories.yaml"); err != nil {
-				mainLogger.Log("warning", "failed to import Helm chart repositories from path", "err", err)
-			}
+			client := v3.New(versionedLogger, cfg)
 			helmClients.Add(v3.VERSION, client)
 		default:
-			mainLogger.Log("error", fmt.Sprintf("%s is not a supported Helm version, ignoring...", v))
+			mainLogger.Log("error", fmt.Sprintf("unsupported Helm version: %s", v))
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -222,6 +226,24 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// import Helm chart repositories from provided indexes
+	for _, i := range *versionedHelmRepositoryIndexes {
+		parts := strings.Split(i, ":")
+		if len(parts) != 2 {
+			mainLogger.Log("error", fmt.Sprintf("invalid version/path pair: %s, expected format is [version]:[path]", i))
+			continue
+		}
+		v, p := parts[0], parts[1]
+		client, ok := helmClients.Load(v)
+		if !ok {
+			mainLogger.Log("error", fmt.Sprintf("no Helm client found for version: %s", v))
+			continue
+		}
+		if err := client.RepositoryImport(p); err != nil {
+			mainLogger.Log("error", fmt.Sprintf("failed to import Helm chart repositories for %s from %s: %v", v, p, err))
+		}
+	}
+
 	// setup shared informer for HelmReleases
 	nsOpt := ifinformers.WithNamespace(*namespace)
 	ifInformerFactory := ifinformers.NewSharedInformerFactoryWithOptions(ifClient, *chartsSyncInterval, nsOpt)
diff --git a/docs/references/operator.md b/docs/references/operator.md
index 42bba36ea..0f537836a 100644
--- a/docs/references/operator.md
+++ b/docs/references/operator.md
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ take action accordingly.
 | `--kubeconfig`              |                               | Path to a kubeconfig. Only required if out-of-cluster.
 | `--master`                  |                               | The address of the Kubernetes API server. Overrides any value in kubeconfig. Only required if out-of-cluster.
 | `--allow-namespace`         |                               | If set, this limits the scope to a single namespace. if not specified, all namespaces will be watched.
+| **Helm options**
+| `--enabled-helm-versions`   | `v2,v3`                       | The Helm client versions supported by this operator instance
+| `--helm-repository-import`  |                               | Targeted version and the path of the Helm repository index to import, i.e. `v3:/tmp/v3/index.yaml,v2:/tmp/v2/index.yaml`
 | **Tiller options**
 | `--tiller-ip`               |                               | Tiller IP address. Only required if out-of-cluster.
 | `--tiller-port`             |                               | Tiller port.
diff --git a/pkg/helm/helm.go b/pkg/helm/helm.go
index 46460c401..30aa19d54 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/helm.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/helm.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ type Client interface {
 	History(releaseName string, opts HistoryOptions) ([]*Release, error)
 	Rollback(releaseName string, opts RollbackOptions) (*Release, error)
 	DependencyUpdate(chartPath string) error
+	RepositoryIndex() error
+	RepositoryAdd(name, url, username, password, certFile, keyFile, caFile string) error
+	RepositoryRemove(name string) error
+	RepositoryImport(path string) error
 	Uninstall(releaseName string, opts UninstallOptions) error
 	Version() string
 }
diff --git a/pkg/helm/v2/helm.go b/pkg/helm/v2/helm.go
index c7043b11c..86820e6a5 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/v2/helm.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/v2/helm.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package v2
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log"
@@ -11,6 +12,8 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	helmv2 "k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm"
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm/environment"
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm/helmpath"
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/tlsutil"
 
 	"github.com/fluxcd/helm-operator/pkg/helm"
@@ -18,6 +21,11 @@ import (
 
 const VERSION = "v2"
 
+var (
+	repositoryConfig   = helmHome().RepositoryFile()
+	repositoryCache    = helmHome().Cache()
+)
+
 // TillerOptions holds configuration options for tiller
 type TillerOptions struct {
 	Host        string
@@ -31,7 +39,7 @@ type TillerOptions struct {
 	TLSHostname string
 }
 
-// HelmV2 provides access to the Client client, while adhering
+// HelmV2 provides access to the Helm v2 client, while adhering
 // to the generic Client interface
 type HelmV2 struct {
 	client *helmv2.Client
@@ -97,11 +105,11 @@ func newHelmClient(kubeClient *kubernetes.Clientset, opts TillerOptions) (*helmv
 		if opts.TLSHostname != "" {
 			tlsopts.ServerName = opts.TLSHostname
 		}
-		tlscfg, err := tlsutil.ClientConfig(tlsopts)
+		tlsCfg, err := tlsutil.ClientConfig(tlsopts)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, "", err
 		}
-		options = append(options, helmv2.WithTLS(tlscfg))
+		options = append(options, helmv2.WithTLS(tlsCfg))
 	}
 
 	return helmv2.NewClient(options...), host, nil
@@ -128,3 +136,10 @@ func statusMessageErr(err error) error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
+
+func helmHome() helmpath.Home {
+	if v, ok := os.LookupEnv("HELM_HOME"); ok {
+		return helmpath.Home(v)
+	}
+	return helmpath.Home(environment.DefaultHelmHome)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/helm/v2/repository.go b/pkg/helm/v2/repository.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b0616f1c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/helm/v2/repository.go
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+package v2
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/getter"
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/repo"
+)
+
+var (
+	repositoryConfigLock sync.RWMutex
+	getters              = getter.Providers{{
+		Schemes: []string{"http", "https"},
+		New:     func(URL, CertFile, KeyFile, CAFile string) (getter.Getter, error) {
+			return getter.NewHTTPGetter(URL, CertFile, KeyFile, CAFile)
+		},
+	}}
+)
+
+func (h *HelmV2) RepositoryIndex() error {
+	repositoryConfigLock.RLock()
+	defer repositoryConfigLock.RUnlock()
+
+	f, err := loadRepositoryConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	for _, c := range f.Repositories {
+		r, err := repo.NewChartRepository(c, getters)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func(r *repo.ChartRepository) {
+			if err := r.DownloadIndexFile(repositoryCache); err != nil {
+				h.logger.Log("error", "unable to get an update from the chart repository", "url", r.Config.URL, "err", err)
+			} else {
+				h.logger.Log("info", "successfully got an update from the chart repository", "url", r.Config.URL)
+			}
+			wg.Done()
+		}(r)
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (h *HelmV2) RepositoryAdd(name, url, username, password, certFile, keyFile, caFile string) error {
+	repositoryConfigLock.Lock()
+	defer repositoryConfigLock.Unlock()
+
+	f, err := loadRepositoryConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	c := &repo.Entry{
+		Name:     name,
+		URL:      url,
+		Username: username,
+		Password: password,
+		CertFile: certFile,
+		KeyFile:  keyFile,
+		CAFile:   caFile,
+	}
+	f.Add(c)
+
+	if f.Has(name) {
+		return errors.New("chart repository with name %s already exists")
+	}
+
+	r, err := repo.NewChartRepository(c, getters)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err = r.DownloadIndexFile(repositoryCache); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return f.WriteFile(repositoryConfig, 0644)
+}
+
+func (h *HelmV2) RepositoryRemove(name string) error {
+	repositoryConfigLock.Lock()
+	defer repositoryConfigLock.Unlock()
+
+	f, err := repo.LoadRepositoriesFile(repositoryConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	f.Remove(name)
+
+	return f.WriteFile(repositoryConfig, 0644)
+}
+
+func (h *HelmV2) RepositoryImport(path string) error {
+	s, err := repo.LoadRepositoriesFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	repositoryConfigLock.Lock()
+	defer repositoryConfigLock.Unlock()
+
+	t, err := loadRepositoryConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	for _, c := range s.Repositories {
+		if t.Has(c.Name) {
+			h.logger.Log("error", "repository with name already exists", "name", c.Name, "url", c.URL)
+			continue
+		}
+		r, err := repo.NewChartRepository(c, getters)
+		if err != nil {
+			h.logger.Log("error", err, "name", c.Name, "url", c.URL)
+			continue
+		}
+		if err := r.DownloadIndexFile(repositoryCache); err != nil {
+			h.logger.Log("error", err, "name", c.Name, "url", c.URL)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		t.Add(c)
+		h.logger.Log("info", "successfully imported repository", "name", c.Name, "url", c.URL)
+	}
+
+	return t.WriteFile(repositoryConfig, 0644)
+}
+
+func loadRepositoryConfig() (*repo.RepoFile, error) {
+	r, err := repo.LoadRepositoriesFile(repositoryConfig)
+	if err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(errors.Cause(err)) {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}