diff --git a/cmd/openstack-populator/openstack-populator.go b/cmd/openstack-populator/openstack-populator.go
index fad2ad622..a7e9e78c8 100644
--- a/cmd/openstack-populator/openstack-populator.go
+++ b/cmd/openstack-populator/openstack-populator.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func downloadAndSaveImage(client *libclient.Client, config *AppConfig) {
 func createProgressCounter() *prometheus.CounterVec {
 	progressVec := prometheus.NewCounterVec(
 		prometheus.CounterOpts{
-			Name: "openstack_populator_progress",
+			Name: "openstack_populator_progress_total",
 			Help: "Progress of volume population",
 		},
 		[]string{"ownerUID"},
diff --git a/cmd/ovirt-populator/ovirt-populator.go b/cmd/ovirt-populator/ovirt-populator.go
index ea7562884..472d63910 100644
--- a/cmd/ovirt-populator/ovirt-populator.go
+++ b/cmd/ovirt-populator/ovirt-populator.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func executePopulationProcess(config *engineConfig, diskID, volPath, ownerUID st
 func monitorProgress(scanner *bufio.Scanner, ownerUID string, pvcSize int64, done chan struct{}) {
 	progress := prometheus.NewCounterVec(
 		prometheus.CounterOpts{
-			Name: "ovirt_progress",
+			Name: "ovirt_populator_progress_total",
 			Help: "Progress of volume population",
 		},
 		[]string{"ownerUID"},
diff --git a/operator/BUILD.bazel b/operator/BUILD.bazel
index 0a1a21714..9e5536999 100644
--- a/operator/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/operator/BUILD.bazel
@@ -70,8 +70,6 @@ container_image(
         ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_hosts.yaml",
         ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_migrations.yaml",
         ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_networkmaps.yaml",
-        ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_openstackvolumepopulators.yaml",
-        ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_ovirtvolumepopulators.yaml",
         ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_plans.yaml",
         ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_providers.yaml",
         ":bundle/manifests/forklift.konveyor.io_storagemaps.yaml",
diff --git a/operator/config/manifests/bases/forklift-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml b/operator/config/manifests/bases/forklift-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml
index a5cbc37c0..3aa417340 100644
--- a/operator/config/manifests/bases/forklift-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/manifests/bases/forklift-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml
@@ -72,16 +72,6 @@ spec:
       kind: Hook
       name: hooks.forklift.konveyor.io
       version: v1beta1
-    - description: oVirt Volume Populator
-      displayName: OvirtVolumePopulator
-      kind: OvirtVolumePopulator
-      name: ovirtvolumepopulators.forklift.konveyor.io
-      version: v1beta1
-    - description: OpenStack Volume Populator
-      displayName: OpenstackVolumePopulator
-      kind: OpenstackVolumePopulator
-      name: openstackvolumepopulators.forklift.konveyor.io
-      version: v1beta1
   description: |
     The Forklift Operator fully manages the deployment and life cycle of Forklift on [OpenShift](https://www.openshift.com/).
 
diff --git a/operator/config/samples/forklift_v1beta1_forkliftcontroller.yaml b/operator/config/samples/forklift_v1beta1_forkliftcontroller.yaml
index 222fec928..175254acc 100644
--- a/operator/config/samples/forklift_v1beta1_forkliftcontroller.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/samples/forklift_v1beta1_forkliftcontroller.yaml
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ spec:
   feature_ui_plugin: 'true'
   feature_validation: 'true'
   feature_volume_populator: 'true'
+  populator_replicas: 0
diff --git a/operator/roles/forkliftcontroller/tasks/main.yml b/operator/roles/forkliftcontroller/tasks/main.yml
index 7ea557bbf..f7ae59569 100644
--- a/operator/roles/forkliftcontroller/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/operator/roles/forkliftcontroller/tasks/main.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,40 @@
     set_fact:
       api_groups: "{{ lookup('k8s', cluster_info='api_groups') }}"
 
+  - name: Read the service account token
+    slurp:
+      src: /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token
+    register: sa_token
+
+  - name: Decode the service account token
+    set_fact:
+      k8s_auth_token: "{{ sa_token['content'] | b64decode }}"
+
+  - name: Get Kubernetes version information
+    uri:
+      url: https://kubernetes.default.svc/version
+      method: GET
+      headers:
+        Authorization: "Bearer {{ k8s_auth_token }}"
+      validate_certs: no
+    register: version_info
+
+  - name: Print Kubernetes version information for debugging
+    debug:
+      msg: "Kubernetes version: {{ version_info.json }}"
+
+  - name: Extract major version
+    set_fact:
+      major_version: "{{ version_info.json.major | int }}"
+
+  - name: Extract and clean minor version
+    set_fact:
+      minor_version: "{{ version_info.json.minor | regex_replace('[^0-9]', '') | int }}"
+
+  - name: Check Kubernetes version and set replicas
+    set_fact:
+      populator_replicas: "{{ 1 if (major_version > 1) or (major_version == 1 and minor_version > 28) else 0 }}"
+
   - when: "'route.openshift.io' not in api_groups"
     block:
     - name: "Enable k8s cluster environment"
@@ -85,6 +119,7 @@
       k8s:
         state: "{{ volume_populator_state }}"
         definition: "{{ lookup('template', 'populator/deployment-populator-controller.yml.j2') }}"
+        replicas: "{{ populator_replicas }}"
 
   - when: k8s_cluster|bool
     block:
diff --git a/pkg/lib-volume-populator/populator-machinery/controller.go b/pkg/lib-volume-populator/populator-machinery/controller.go
index d075b7170..e228199cb 100644
--- a/pkg/lib-volume-populator/populator-machinery/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/lib-volume-populator/populator-machinery/controller.go
@@ -830,7 +830,7 @@ func (c *controller) updatePvc(ctx context.Context, pvc *corev1.PersistentVolume
 
 func (c *controller) updateProgress(pod *corev1.Pod, pvc *corev1.PersistentVolumeClaim, cr *unstructured.Unstructured) error {
 	populatorKind := pvc.Spec.DataSourceRef.Kind
-	importRegExp := regexp.MustCompile("progress\\{ownerUID=\"" + string(pvc.UID) + "\"\\} (\\d+\\.?\\d*)")
+	importRegExp := regexp.MustCompile("progress_total\\{ownerUID=\"" + string(pvc.UID) + "\"\\} (\\d+\\.?\\d*)")
 
 	url, err := getMetricsURL(pod)
 	if err != nil {