diff --git a/deploy/operator.yaml b/deploy/operator.yaml
index c076d4c1a3..f4ebaaf83d 100644
--- a/deploy/operator.yaml
+++ b/deploy/operator.yaml
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ spec:
           image: $SRIOV_NETWORK_OPERATOR_IMAGE
           command:
           - sriov-network-operator
+          args:
+          - --leader-elect
           resources:
             requests:
               cpu: 100m
diff --git a/hack/deploy-wait.sh b/hack/deploy-wait.sh
index d4e66281e8..a0e964614f 100755
--- a/hack/deploy-wait.sh
+++ b/hack/deploy-wait.sh
@@ -23,3 +23,5 @@ if ! $ready; then
     oc get nodes
     exit 1
 fi
+
+ kubectl -n $NAMESPACE delete pod -l name=sriov-network-operator