diff --git a/helm/templates/kafka/kafka-cluster.yaml b/helm/templates/kafka/kafka-cluster.yaml
index c7be0a34493e75cbbeb85cbbc96dd914d2e0f23a..6911327cf7cd1c4a279fa0cc36a73710423b6c99 100644
--- a/helm/templates/kafka/kafka-cluster.yaml
+++ b/helm/templates/kafka/kafka-cluster.yaml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ spec:
       {{- toYaml . | nindent 6 }}
     {{- end}}
 
+  {{- if .Values.strimzi.kafkaExporter.enabled }}
   kafkaExporter:
     {{- with .Values.strimzi.kafkaExporter.template}}
       template:
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ spec:
     resources:
       {{- toYaml . | nindent 6 }}
     {{- end}}
+  {{- end }}
 
   {{- if .Values.strimzi.topicOperator.enabled }}
   entityOperator:
diff --git a/helm/values.yaml b/helm/values.yaml
index 46cc7d53325906f2e1085f25e19030133341ac4a..28cadfea58fcddf62559dd0458e806242982194a 100644
--- a/helm/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/values.yaml
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ strimzi:
   
   topicOperator:
     enabled: true
+  
+  kafkaExporter:
+    enabled: true
+    template: {}
+    resources: {}
 
   schemaRegistry:
     enabled: true