diff --git a/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/backend.py b/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/backend.py
index 3b9eb626..89b3da12 100644
--- a/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/backend.py
+++ b/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/backend.py
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ def _default_namespace(self):
     )
 
     image_pull_policy = Unicode(
-        "IfNotPresent",
+        None,
+        allow_none=True,
         help="The image pull policy of the docker image specified in ``image``",
         config=True,
     )
diff --git a/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/controller.py b/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/controller.py
index 96000f1a..4b41b575 100644
--- a/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/controller.py
+++ b/dask-gateway-server/dask_gateway_server/backends/kubernetes/controller.py
@@ -1137,7 +1137,6 @@ def make_pod(self, namespace, cluster_name, config, is_worker=False):
             "image": config.image,
             "args": cmd,
             "env": env,
-            "imagePullPolicy": config.image_pull_policy,
             "resources": {
                 "requests": {"cpu": f"{cpu_req:.3f}", "memory": str(mem_req)},
                 "limits": {"cpu": f"{cpu_lim:.3f}", "memory": str(mem_lim)},
@@ -1155,6 +1154,8 @@ def make_pod(self, namespace, cluster_name, config, is_worker=False):
                 {"name": "api", "containerPort": 8788},
             ],
         }
+        if config.image_pull_policy:
+            container["imagePullPolicy"] = config.image_pull_policy
 
         container.update(probes)
 
diff --git a/resources/helm/dask-gateway/values.yaml b/resources/helm/dask-gateway/values.yaml
index 85177d87..f66537eb 100644
--- a/resources/helm/dask-gateway/values.yaml
+++ b/resources/helm/dask-gateway/values.yaml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ gateway:
   image:
     name: ghcr.io/dask/dask-gateway-server
     tag: "set-by-chartpress"
-    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+    pullPolicy:
 
   # Add additional environment variables to the gateway pod
   # e.g.
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ gateway:
     image:
       name: ghcr.io/dask/dask-gateway
       tag: "set-by-chartpress"
-      pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+      pullPolicy:
 
     # Image pull secrets for a dask cluster's scheduler and worker pods
     imagePullSecrets: []
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ controller:
   image:
     name: ghcr.io/dask/dask-gateway-server
     tag: "set-by-chartpress"
-    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+    pullPolicy:
 
   # Settings for nodeSelector, affinity, and tolerations for the controller pods
   nodeSelector: {}
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ traefik:
   image:
     name: traefik
     tag: "2.10.4"
-    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+    pullPolicy:
   imagePullSecrets: []
 
   # Any additional arguments to forward to traefik