diff --git a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java
index 1ce14b73ed..eb05fcb5d8 100644
--- a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java
+++ b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java
@@ -157,11 +157,11 @@ protected void before(ExtensionContext context) {
         .resource(
             new NamespaceBuilder().withMetadata(new ObjectMetaBuilder().withName(namespace).build())
                 .build())
-        .create();
+        .serverSideApply();
 
     kubernetesClient
         .resourceList(infrastructure)
-        .createOrReplace();
+        .serverSideApply();
     kubernetesClient
         .resourceList(infrastructure)
         .waitUntilReady(infrastructureTimeout.toMillis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);