diff --git a/charts/log-router/crds/crd.yaml b/charts/log-router/templates/crd.yaml
similarity index 73%
rename from charts/log-router/crds/crd.yaml
rename to charts/log-router/templates/crd.yaml
index 17dfd060..e26cde73 100644
--- a/charts/log-router/crds/crd.yaml
+++ b/charts/log-router/templates/crd.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+{{ if .Values.installCrd }}
+{{- /* if we need the CRD, install it */ -}}
+
+{{/*
+  this CRD needs to live in the template directory because CRDs within the
+  chart crds/ directory are not processed as templates
+*/}}
+
+#
 # log-router CRD resource:
 apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
 kind: CustomResourceDefinition
@@ -26,3 +35,4 @@ spec:
         type: object
     served: true
     storage: true
+{{ end }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/charts/log-router/values.yaml b/charts/log-router/values.yaml
index 882cc4ac..6ac76940 100755
--- a/charts/log-router/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/log-router/values.yaml
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ datasource: default
 # together with the specified legacy datasource to facilitate the migration process to CRDs.
 crdMigrationMode: false
 
+# default to installing the CRD along with the helm chart
+installCrd: true
+
 defaultConfigmap: "fluentd-config"
 
 image: