diff --git a/helm/akhq/Chart.yaml b/helm/akhq/Chart.yaml
index 216358f61..384599ea0 100644
--- a/helm/akhq/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/akhq/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: v1
 appVersion: "0.17.0"
 description: Kafka GUI for Apache Kafka to manage topics, topics data, consumers group, schema registry, connect and more...
 name: akhq
-version: 0.2.0
+version: 0.2.1
 keywords:
   - kafka
   - confluent
diff --git a/helm/akhq/templates/deployment.yaml b/helm/akhq/templates/deployment.yaml
index 938a8ccdc..62323f124 100644
--- a/helm/akhq/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm/akhq/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spec:
         {{- if .Values.configuration }}
         checksum/config: {{ include (print $.Template.BasePath "/configmap.yaml") . | sha256sum }}
         {{- end }}
-        {{- if .Values.secrets }}
+        {{- if and (not .Values.existingSecret) (.Values.secrets) }}
         checksum/secrets: {{ include (print $.Template.BasePath "/secret.yaml") . | sha256sum }}
         {{- end }}
         {{- with .Values.image.annotations }}
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ spec:
           imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy | default "Always" }}
           env:
             {{- if .Values.extraEnv }}{{ toYaml .Values.extraEnv | trim | nindent 12 }}{{ end }}
-            {{- if .Values.secrets }}
+            {{- if or (.Values.existingSecrets) (.Values.secrets) }}
             - name: MICRONAUT_ENVIRONMENTS
               value: secrets
             - name: MICRONAUT_CONFIG_FILES
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ spec:
               mountPath: /app/application.yml
               subPath: application.yml
           {{- end }}
-          {{- if .Values.secrets }}
+          {{- if or (.Values.existingSecrets) (.Values.secrets) }}
             - name: secrets
               mountPath: /app/application-secrets.yml
               subPath: application-secrets.yml
@@ -110,8 +110,12 @@ spec:
         configMap:
           name: {{ template "akhq.fullname" . }}
       {{- end }}
-      {{- if .Values.secrets }}
+      {{- if or (.Values.existingSecrets) (.Values.secrets) }}
       - name: secrets
         secret:
+          {{- if .Values.existingSecrets }}
+          secretName: {{ .Values.existingSecrets }}
+          {{- else }}
           secretName: {{ template "akhq.fullname" . }}-secrets
+          {{- end }}
       {{- end }}
diff --git a/helm/akhq/templates/secret.yaml b/helm/akhq/templates/secret.yaml
index dd3d548d6..b9afdc48d 100644
--- a/helm/akhq/templates/secret.yaml
+++ b/helm/akhq/templates/secret.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{{- if .Values.secrets }}
+{{- if and ( not .Values.existingSecrets) (.Values.secrets) }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret
 metadata:
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ data:
   {{ $key }}: {{ $value | quote }}
   {{- end }}
   {{- end }}
-  {{- end }}
\ No newline at end of file
+  {{- end }}
diff --git a/helm/akhq/values.yaml b/helm/akhq/values.yaml
index f7966a33a..abbf26c1e 100644
--- a/helm/akhq/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/akhq/values.yaml
@@ -28,27 +28,29 @@ extraEnv: []
 configuration: |
   akhq:
     server:
-      access-log: 
-        enabled: false 
+      access-log:
+        enabled: false
         name: org.akhq.log.access
 
 ##... and secret for connection information
-secrets: |
-  akhq:
-    connections:
-      my-cluster-plain-text:
-        properties:
-          bootstrap.servers: "kafka:9092"
-        schema-registry:
-          url: "http://schema-registry:8085"
-          type: "confluent"
-          basic-auth-username: basic-auth-user
-          basic-auth-password: basic-auth-pass
-        connect:
-          - name: "my-connect"
-            url: "http://connect:8083"
-            basic-auth-username: basic-auth-user
-            basic-auth-password: basic-auth-pass
+existingSecrets: ""
+# name of the existingSecret
+secrets: {}
+#  akhq:
+#    connections:
+#      my-cluster-plain-text:
+#        properties:
+#          bootstrap.servers: "kafka:9092"
+#        schema-registry:
+#          url: "http://schema-registry:8085"
+#          type: "confluent"
+#          basic-auth-username: basic-auth-user
+#          basic-auth-password: basic-auth-pass
+#        connect:
+#          - name: "my-connect"
+#            url: "http://connect:8083"
+#            basic-auth-username: basic-auth-user
+#            basic-auth-password: basic-auth-pass
 
 kafkaSecrets: []
 #Provide extra base64 encoded kubernetes secrets (keystore/truststore)
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ serviceAccountName: null
 
 # Add your own init container or uncomment and modify the example.
 initContainers: {}
-#   create-keystore: 
+#   create-keystore:
 #     image: "openjdk:11-slim"
 #     command: ['sh', '-c', 'keytool']
 #     volumeMounts: