diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f75d9ddaf4..27e3d0088b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -775,7 +775,7 @@ set-manifest-image:
 ##@ vm-operator:
 
 .PHONY: release-vm-operator
-release-vm-operator: docker-vm-operator-build-all vm-operator-manifest-build docker-vm-operator-push-all ## Build and push the vm-operator image and manifest for usage in CI
+release-vm-operator: docker-vm-operator-build-all vm-operator-manifest-build docker-vm-operator-push-all vm-operator-manifest-push ## Build and push the vm-operator image and manifest for usage in CI
 
 .PHONY: vm-operator-checkout
 vm-operator-checkout:
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml
index 673b9ca47c..bb2126b6db 100644
--- a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/kustomization.yaml
@@ -8,3 +8,15 @@ commonLabels:
 
 resources:
 - vm-operator.yaml
+
+patchesStrategicMerge:
+- vm-operator-replicas.yaml
+
+patches:
+- target:
+    labelSelector: app=web-console-validator
+  patch: |
+    $patch: delete
+    kind: Deployment
+    metadata:
+      name: web-console-validator
diff --git a/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-replicas.yaml b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-replicas.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e99842bcd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/infrastructure/vm-operator/vm-operator-replicas.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: vmware-system-vmop-controller-manager
+  namespace: vmware-system-vmop
+spec:
+  replicas: 1