diff --git a/kubernetes/linera-validator/templates/ingress.yaml b/kubernetes/linera-validator/templates/ingress.yaml
index 303d1c6407b..1f7e2e185da 100644
--- a/kubernetes/linera-validator/templates/ingress.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/linera-validator/templates/ingress.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ kind: Ingress
 metadata:
   name: validator-ingress
   annotations:
+    cloud.google.com/backend-config: '{"default":"proxy-backend-config"}'
     kubernetes.io/ingress.global-static-ip-name: {{ .Values.staticIpGcpName }}
     networking.gke.io/managed-certificates: managed-cert
     spec.ingressClassName: "gce"