diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
index b2b4f01d01..e8b23e60fa 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ spec:
               fieldPath: spec.nodeName
         - name: DEBUG
           value: "no"
+        - name: SHIMS
+          value: "clh dragonball fc qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx qemu"
+        - name: DEFAULT_SHIM
+          value: "qemu"
         securityContext:
           privileged: true
         volumeMounts:
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
index d072c1085e..0c688b8c86 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ spec:
               fieldPath: spec.nodeName
         - name: DEBUG
           value: "no"
+        - name: SHIMS
+          value: "clh dragonball fc qemu qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx"
+        - name: DEFAULT_SHIM
+          value: "qemu"
         securityContext:
           privileged: true
         volumeMounts:
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
index d61804641c..ae39cd6a94 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
@@ -14,18 +14,9 @@ crio_drop_in_conf_file_debug="${crio_drop_in_conf_dir}/100-debug"
 containerd_conf_file="/etc/containerd/config.toml"
 containerd_conf_file_backup="${containerd_conf_file}.bak"
 
-shims=(
-	"fc"
-	"qemu"
-	"qemu-nvidia-gpu"
-	"qemu-tdx"
-	"qemu-sev"
-	"qemu-snp"
-	"clh"
-	"dragonball"
-)
+IFS=' ' read -a shims <<< "$SHIMS"
 
-default_shim="qemu"
+default_shim="$DEFAULT_SHIM"
 
 # If we fail for any reason a message will be displayed
 die() {