diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f2fabd1f280c..24e527631cc8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -123,14 +123,13 @@ $(foreach gv,$(api_group_versions),$(eval $(foreach t,$(api_group_version_target
 controller_gen_targets := $(foreach gv,$(api_group_versions),pkg/apis/$(gv)/.controller-gen.stamp)
 codegen_targets := $(controller_gen_targets)
 $(controller_gen_targets): .k0sbuild.docker-image.k0s hack/tools/boilerplate.go.txt hack/tools/Makefile.variables
-	rm -rf 'static/manifests/$(dir $(@:pkg/apis/%/.controller-gen.stamp=%))CustomResourceDefinition'
-	mkdir -p 'static/manifests/$(dir $(@:pkg/apis/%/.controller-gen.stamp=%))'
+	rm -rf 'static/_crds/$(dir $(@:pkg/apis/%/.controller-gen.stamp=%))'
 	gendir="$$(mktemp -d .controller-gen.XXXXXX.tmp)" \
 	  && trap "rm -rf -- $$gendir" INT EXIT \
 	  && CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GO) run sigs.k8s.io/controller-tools/cmd/controller-gen@v$(controller-gen_version) \
 	    paths="./$(dir $@)..." \
 	    object:headerFile=hack/tools/boilerplate.go.txt output:object:dir="$$gendir" \
-	    crd output:crd:dir='static/manifests/$(dir $(@:pkg/apis/%/.controller-gen.stamp=%))CustomResourceDefinition' \
+	    crd output:crd:dir='static/_crds/$(dir $(@:pkg/apis/%/.controller-gen.stamp=%))' \
 	  && mv -f -- "$$gendir"/zz_generated.deepcopy.go '$(dir $@).'
 	touch -- '$@'
 
@@ -167,12 +166,12 @@ pkg/client/clientset/.client-gen.stamp: .k0sbuild.docker-image.k0s hack/tools/bo
 	touch -- '$@'
 
 codegen_targets += static/zz_generated_assets.go
-static/zz_generated_assets.go: $(controller_gen_targets) # to generate the CRDs into static/manifests/*/CustomResourceDefinition
+static/zz_generated_assets.go: $(controller_gen_targets) # to generate the CRDs into static/_crds/*
 static/zz_generated_assets.go: $(shell find static/manifests/calico static/manifests/windows static/misc -type f)
 static/zz_generated_assets.go: .k0sbuild.docker-image.k0s hack/tools/Makefile.variables
 	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GO) run github.com/kevinburke/go-bindata/go-bindata@v$(go-bindata_version) \
 	  -o '$@' -pkg static -prefix static \
-	  $(foreach gv,$(api_group_versions),static/manifests/$(dir $(gv))CustomResourceDefinition/...) \
+	  $(foreach gv,$(api_group_versions),static/_crds/$(dir $(gv))...) \
 	  static/manifests/calico/... \
 	  static/manifests/windows/... \
 	  static/misc/...
diff --git a/pkg/component/controller/crd.go b/pkg/component/controller/crd.go
index ba82fa57c8cc..147f146b464b 100644
--- a/pkg/component/controller/crd.go
+++ b/pkg/component/controller/crd.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func (c CRD) Init(_ context.Context) error {
 
 // Run unpacks manifests from bindata
 func (c CRD) Start(_ context.Context) error {
-	crdAssetsPath := path.Join("manifests", c.assetsDir, "CustomResourceDefinition")
+	crdAssetsPath := path.Join("_crds", c.assetsDir)
 	crds, err := static.AssetDir(crdAssetsPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("can't unbundle CRD `%s` manifests: %w", c.bundle, err)
diff --git a/static/manifests/autopilot/CustomResourceDefinition/autopilot.k0sproject.io_controlnodes.yaml b/static/_crds/autopilot/autopilot.k0sproject.io_controlnodes.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from static/manifests/autopilot/CustomResourceDefinition/autopilot.k0sproject.io_controlnodes.yaml
rename to static/_crds/autopilot/autopilot.k0sproject.io_controlnodes.yaml
diff --git a/static/manifests/autopilot/CustomResourceDefinition/autopilot.k0sproject.io_plans.yaml b/static/_crds/autopilot/autopilot.k0sproject.io_plans.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from static/manifests/autopilot/CustomResourceDefinition/autopilot.k0sproject.io_plans.yaml
rename to static/_crds/autopilot/autopilot.k0sproject.io_plans.yaml
diff --git a/static/manifests/autopilot/CustomResourceDefinition/autopilot.k0sproject.io_updateconfigs.yaml b/static/_crds/autopilot/autopilot.k0sproject.io_updateconfigs.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from static/manifests/autopilot/CustomResourceDefinition/autopilot.k0sproject.io_updateconfigs.yaml
rename to static/_crds/autopilot/autopilot.k0sproject.io_updateconfigs.yaml
diff --git a/static/manifests/etcd/CustomResourceDefinition/etcd.k0sproject.io_etcdmembers.yaml b/static/_crds/etcd/etcd.k0sproject.io_etcdmembers.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from static/manifests/etcd/CustomResourceDefinition/etcd.k0sproject.io_etcdmembers.yaml
rename to static/_crds/etcd/etcd.k0sproject.io_etcdmembers.yaml
diff --git a/static/manifests/helm/CustomResourceDefinition/helm.k0sproject.io_charts.yaml b/static/_crds/helm/helm.k0sproject.io_charts.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from static/manifests/helm/CustomResourceDefinition/helm.k0sproject.io_charts.yaml
rename to static/_crds/helm/helm.k0sproject.io_charts.yaml
diff --git a/static/manifests/k0s/CustomResourceDefinition/k0s.k0sproject.io_clusterconfigs.yaml b/static/_crds/k0s/k0s.k0sproject.io_clusterconfigs.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from static/manifests/k0s/CustomResourceDefinition/k0s.k0sproject.io_clusterconfigs.yaml
rename to static/_crds/k0s/k0s.k0sproject.io_clusterconfigs.yaml