diff --git a/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/03-serving-and-observability.md b/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/03-serving-and-observability.md
index 0b75eaebb43..46bbd35a58a 100644
--- a/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/03-serving-and-observability.md
+++ b/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/03-serving-and-observability.md
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ offline, registry, UI) and for the **init containers** (git clone, `feast apply`
 it overrides all of them at once without touching any CR.
 
 The **cronJob** container uses a separate env var: `RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB`
-(default: `quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17`).
+(default: `registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5`).
 
 **Cluster-wide image override (operator env var)** — set this on the operator `Deployment`
 to redirect all pods cluster-wide to a different registry (e.g. a private mirror or a
diff --git a/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/06-batch-and-jobs.md b/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/06-batch-and-jobs.md
index 71e7b6b95dc..4c755fa7b0c 100644
--- a/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/06-batch-and-jobs.md
+++ b/docs/how-to-guides/feast-operator/06-batch-and-jobs.md
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ fresh without managing an external job scheduler.
 The CronJob container image is resolved through the following priority chain:
 
 1. **`cronJob.containerConfigs.image` in the CR** — per-CronJob override
-2. **`RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB` env var on the operator pod** — cluster-wide default set by OLM/platform (default: `quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17`)
+2. **`RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB` env var on the operator pod** — cluster-wide default set by OLM/platform (default: `registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5`)
 
 ```sh
 # Override cluster-wide for all CronJobs
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/Makefile b/infra/feast-operator/Makefile
index b0ee1fd1c04..bfcfa833c3f 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/Makefile
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/Makefile
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ OPERATOR_SDK_VERSION ?= v1.41.0
 # the dev image generated using command `make build-feature-server-dev-docker`
 IMG ?= $(IMAGE_TAG_BASE):$(VERSION)
 FS_IMG ?= quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:$(VERSION)
-CJ_IMG ?= quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17
+CJ_IMG ?= registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5
 # ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION refers to the version of kubebuilder assets to be downloaded by envtest binary.
 ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION = 1.31.0
 
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/bundle/manifests/feast-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml b/infra/feast-operator/bundle/manifests/feast-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml
index d4795f3fb06..469056578f8 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/bundle/manifests/feast-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/bundle/manifests/feast-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ spec:
                 - name: RELATED_IMAGE_FEATURE_SERVER
                   value: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.66.0
                 - name: RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB
-                  value: quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17
+                  value: registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5
                 - name: GOMEMLIMIT
                   value: 230MiB
                 - name: OIDC_ISSUER_URL
@@ -539,6 +539,6 @@ spec:
   relatedImages:
   - image: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.66.0
     name: feature-server
-  - image: quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17
+  - image: registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5
     name: cron-job
   version: 0.66.0
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/config/default/related_image_fs_patch.yaml b/infra/feast-operator/config/default/related_image_fs_patch.yaml
index 518e834c200..d0a85cd7b15 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/config/default/related_image_fs_patch.yaml
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/config/default/related_image_fs_patch.yaml
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ spec:
         - name: RELATED_IMAGE_FEATURE_SERVER
           value: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.66.0
         - name: RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB
-          value: quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17
+          value: registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml b/infra/feast-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml
index 4213787e075..129ee293bf1 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/config/manager/manager.yaml
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ spec:
         - name: RELATED_IMAGE_FEATURE_SERVER
           value: feast:latest
         - name: RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB
-          value: origin-cli:latest
+          value: registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5
         # Injected from params.env via kustomize replacements (ODH/RHOAI overlays).
         # Open Data Hub operator sets this from GatewayConfig when the cluster uses external OIDC.
         - name: OIDC_ISSUER_URL
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/dist/install.yaml b/infra/feast-operator/dist/install.yaml
index 7480b9423b5..f760ab54383 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/dist/install.yaml
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/dist/install.yaml
@@ -23700,7 +23700,7 @@ spec:
         - name: RELATED_IMAGE_FEATURE_SERVER
           value: quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.66.0
         - name: RELATED_IMAGE_CRON_JOB
-          value: quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17
+          value: registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5
         - name: GOMEMLIMIT
           value: 230MiB
         - name: OIDC_ISSUER_URL
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/cronjob.go b/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/cronjob.go
index 78fe05261c4..edcd48453aa 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/cronjob.go
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/cronjob.go
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ func (feast *FeastServices) getCronJobPodSpec() corev1.PodSpec {
 		},
 	}
 	// On vanilla Kubernetes (e.g. Kind) we must set an explicit non-root UID
-	// because the default CronJob image (origin-cli) runs as root.
+	// because the default CronJob image (kubectl) runs as root.
 	// On OpenShift the restricted-v2 SCC auto-assigns a UID from the
 	// namespace's allowed range, so we must NOT set RunAsUser.
 	if !IsOpenShift() {
diff --git a/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/services_types.go b/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/services_types.go
index b431292cdfc..927b2ccce37 100644
--- a/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/services_types.go
+++ b/infra/feast-operator/internal/controller/services/services_types.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ const (
 
 var (
 	DefaultImage          = "quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:" + feastversion.FeastVersion
-	DefaultCronJobImage   = "quay.io/openshift/origin-cli:4.17"
+	DefaultCronJobImage   = "registry.k8s.io/kubectl:v1.30.5"
 	DefaultPVCAccessModes = []corev1.PersistentVolumeAccessMode{corev1.ReadWriteOnce}
 	NameLabelKey          = feastdevv1.GroupVersion.Group + "/name"
 	ServiceTypeLabelKey   = feastdevv1.GroupVersion.Group + "/service-type"