diff --git a/pkg/controller/istio/istio_controller.go b/pkg/controller/istio/istio_controller.go
index ae03f8f89c..d5b3f171cc 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/istio/istio_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/istio/istio_controller.go
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ var (
 // Start Watches within the Add function for any resources that this controller creates or monitors. This will trigger
 // calls to Reconcile() when an instance of one of the watched resources is modified.
 func Add(mgr manager.Manager, opts options.AddOptions) error {
+	if !opts.EnterpriseCRDExists {
+		log.V(1).Info("Enterprise CRDs not found. Skipping Istio controller.")
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	r := newReconciler(mgr, opts)
 
 	c, err := ctrlruntime.NewController("istio-controller", mgr, controller.Options{Reconciler: r})
diff --git a/pkg/crds/calico/crd.projectcalico.org_felixconfigurations.yaml b/pkg/crds/calico/crd.projectcalico.org_felixconfigurations.yaml
index cd33e38e17..89d9263ad3 100644
--- a/pkg/crds/calico/crd.projectcalico.org_felixconfigurations.yaml
+++ b/pkg/crds/calico/crd.projectcalico.org_felixconfigurations.yaml
@@ -1020,12 +1020,14 @@ spec:
                   format: int32
                   type: integer
                 nftablesMode:
+                  default: Auto
                   description:
                     "NFTablesMode configures nftables support in Felix. [Default:
-                    Disabled]"
+                    Auto]"
                   enum:
                     - Disabled
                     - Enabled
+                    - Auto
                   type: string
                 nftablesRefreshInterval:
                   description: