diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dc3588e32d..5e888c3a42 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ generate-crds: ## Generate CRDs and Go types using kubebuilder
 
 .PHONY: install-crds
 install-crds: ## Install CRDs
-	kubectl kustomize $(SELF_DIR)config/crd | kubectl apply -f -
+	kubectl kustomize $(SELF_DIR)config/crd | kubectl apply --server-side -f -
 
 .PHONY: install-gateway-crds
 install-gateway-crds: ## Install Gateway API CRDs
diff --git a/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md b/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md
index 3fb3f6230b..656ef9a82a 100644
--- a/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md
+++ b/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ Helm does not upgrade the NGINX Gateway Fabric CRDs during a release upgrade. Be
 must [pull the chart](#pulling-the-chart) from GitHub and run the following command to upgrade the CRDs:
 
 ```shell
-kubectl apply -f crds/
+kubectl apply --server-side -f crds/
 ```
 
 The following warning is expected and can be ignored:
diff --git a/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md.gotmpl b/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md.gotmpl
index b60f166072..ba4d3ccb53 100644
--- a/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md.gotmpl
+++ b/charts/nginx-gateway-fabric/README.md.gotmpl
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ Helm does not upgrade the NGINX Gateway Fabric CRDs during a release upgrade. Be
 must [pull the chart](#pulling-the-chart) from GitHub and run the following command to upgrade the CRDs:
 
 ```shell
-kubectl apply -f crds/
+kubectl apply --server-side -f crds/
 ```
 
 The following warning is expected and can be ignored:
diff --git a/docs/developer/quickstart.md b/docs/developer/quickstart.md
index 0b835da9d2..45b2cef491 100644
--- a/docs/developer/quickstart.md
+++ b/docs/developer/quickstart.md
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ This will build the docker images `nginx-gateway-fabric:<your-user>` and `nginx-
      If the only change is the image repository and tag, you can update the `kustomization.yaml` file in `deploy/` with the desired values and deployment mainifest and run the following commands:
 
      ```shell
-      kubectl apply -f deploy/crds.yaml
+      kubectl apply --server-side -f deploy/crds.yaml
       kubectl kustomize deploy | kubectl apply -f -
      ```