diff --git a/pkg/crd/gen.go b/pkg/crd/gen.go
index 566a12897..43293d2a9 100644
--- a/pkg/crd/gen.go
+++ b/pkg/crd/gen.go
@@ -85,6 +85,13 @@ func (Generator) CheckFilter() loader.NodeFilter {
 func (Generator) RegisterMarkers(into *markers.Registry) error {
 	return crdmarkers.Register(into)
 }
+
+// transformRemoveCRDStatus ensures we do not write the CRD status field.
+func transformRemoveCRDStatus(obj map[string]interface{}) error {
+	delete(obj, "status")
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (g Generator) Generate(ctx *genall.GenerationContext) error {
 	parser := &Parser{
 		Collector: ctx.Collector,
@@ -145,7 +152,7 @@ func (g Generator) Generate(ctx *genall.GenerationContext) error {
 			} else {
 				fileName = fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s.%s.yaml", crdRaw.Spec.Group, crdRaw.Spec.Names.Plural, crdVersions[i])
 			}
-			if err := ctx.WriteYAML(fileName, crd); err != nil {
+			if err := ctx.WriteYAML(fileName, []interface{}{crd}, genall.WithTransform(transformRemoveCRDStatus)); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/crd/spec.go b/pkg/crd/spec.go
index d48ce2525..fc0099528 100644
--- a/pkg/crd/spec.go
+++ b/pkg/crd/spec.go
@@ -164,11 +164,5 @@ func (p *Parser) NeedCRDFor(groupKind schema.GroupKind, maxDescLen *int) {
 		packages[0].AddError(fmt.Errorf("CRD for %s with version(s) %v does not serve any version", groupKind, crd.Spec.Versions))
 	}
 
-	// NB(directxman12): CRD's status doesn't have omitempty markers, which means things
-	// get serialized as null, which causes the validator to freak out.  Manually set
-	// these to empty till we get a better solution.
-	crd.Status.Conditions = []apiext.CustomResourceDefinitionCondition{}
-	crd.Status.StoredVersions = []string{}
-
 	p.CustomResourceDefinitions[groupKind] = crd
 }
diff --git a/pkg/genall/genall.go b/pkg/genall/genall.go
index e03888d4e..63afbac07 100644
--- a/pkg/genall/genall.go
+++ b/pkg/genall/genall.go
@@ -17,13 +17,14 @@ limitations under the License.
 package genall
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 
 	"golang.org/x/tools/go/packages"
-	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
+	rawyaml "gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-tools/pkg/loader"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-tools/pkg/markers"
@@ -120,10 +121,22 @@ type GenerationContext struct {
 	InputRule
 }
 
+// WriteYAMLOptions implements the Options Pattern for WriteYAML.
+type WriteYAMLOptions struct {
+	transform func(obj map[string]interface{}) error
+}
+
+// WithTransform applies a transformation to objects just before writing them.
+func WithTransform(transform func(obj map[string]interface{}) error) *WriteYAMLOptions {
+	return &WriteYAMLOptions{
+		transform: transform,
+	}
+}
+
 // WriteYAML writes the given objects out, serialized as YAML, using the
 // context's OutputRule.  Objects are written as separate documents, separated
 // from each other by `---` (as per the YAML spec).
-func (g GenerationContext) WriteYAML(itemPath string, objs ...interface{}) error {
+func (g GenerationContext) WriteYAML(itemPath string, objs []interface{}, options ...*WriteYAMLOptions) error {
 	out, err := g.Open(nil, itemPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -131,7 +144,7 @@ func (g GenerationContext) WriteYAML(itemPath string, objs ...interface{}) error
 	defer out.Close()
 
 	for _, obj := range objs {
-		yamlContent, err := yaml.Marshal(obj)
+		yamlContent, err := yamlMarshal(obj, options...)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -147,6 +160,41 @@ func (g GenerationContext) WriteYAML(itemPath string, objs ...interface{}) error
 	return nil
 }
 
+// yamlMarshal is based on sigs.k8s.io/yaml.Marshal, but allows for transforming the final data before writing.
+func yamlMarshal(o interface{}, options ...*WriteYAMLOptions) ([]byte, error) {
+	j, err := json.Marshal(o)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error marshaling into JSON: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return yamlJSONToYAMLWithFilter(j, options...)
+}
+
+// yamlJSONToYAMLWithFilter is based on sigs.k8s.io/yaml.JSONToYAML, but allows for transforming the final data before writing.
+func yamlJSONToYAMLWithFilter(j []byte, options ...*WriteYAMLOptions) ([]byte, error) {
+	// Convert the JSON to an object.
+	var jsonObj map[string]interface{}
+	// We are using yaml.Unmarshal here (instead of json.Unmarshal) because the
+	// Go JSON library doesn't try to pick the right number type (int, float,
+	// etc.) when unmarshalling to interface{}, it just picks float64
+	// universally. go-yaml does go through the effort of picking the right
+	// number type, so we can preserve number type throughout this process.
+	if err := rawyaml.Unmarshal(j, &jsonObj); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	for _, option := range options {
+		if option.transform != nil {
+			if err := option.transform(jsonObj); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Marshal this object into YAML.
+	return rawyaml.Marshal(jsonObj)
+}
+
 // ReadFile reads the given boilerplate artifact using the context's InputRule.
 func (g GenerationContext) ReadFile(path string) ([]byte, error) {
 	file, err := g.OpenForRead(path)
diff --git a/pkg/rbac/parser.go b/pkg/rbac/parser.go
index 8adfb3663..3bbf11fd4 100644
--- a/pkg/rbac/parser.go
+++ b/pkg/rbac/parser.go
@@ -263,5 +263,5 @@ func (g Generator) Generate(ctx *genall.GenerationContext) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	return ctx.WriteYAML("role.yaml", objs...)
+	return ctx.WriteYAML("role.yaml", objs)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/webhook/parser.go b/pkg/webhook/parser.go
index f3434e1ab..392acfc77 100644
--- a/pkg/webhook/parser.go
+++ b/pkg/webhook/parser.go
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ func (Generator) Generate(ctx *genall.GenerationContext) error {
 		} else {
 			fileName = fmt.Sprintf("manifests.%s.yaml", k)
 		}
-		if err := ctx.WriteYAML(fileName, v...); err != nil {
+		if err := ctx.WriteYAML(fileName, v); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}