diff --git a/config/manager/manager.yaml b/config/manager/manager.yaml
index 4d047ba27..86983df12 100644
--- a/config/manager/manager.yaml
+++ b/config/manager/manager.yaml
@@ -69,21 +69,21 @@ spec:
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-database
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # Ops Manager
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-ops-manager
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # AppDB
             - name: INIT_APPDB_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-appdb
             - name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
               value: Always
             - name: AGENT_IMAGE
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ spec:
               value: "quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi:8.0.14"
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY_8_0_15
               value: "quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi:8.0.15"
-      # since the official server images end with a different suffix we can re-use the same $mongodbImageEnv
+            # since the official server images end with a different suffix we can re-use the same $mongodbImageEnv
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_MONGODB_IMAGE_4_4_0_ubi8
               value: "quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-server:4.4.0-ubi8"
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_MONGODB_IMAGE_4_4_1_ubi8
diff --git a/helm_chart/templates/operator.yaml b/helm_chart/templates/operator.yaml
index d047ddb9d..ebae9c878 100644
--- a/helm_chart/templates/operator.yaml
+++ b/helm_chart/templates/operator.yaml
@@ -172,21 +172,21 @@ spec:
             - name: {{ $initDatabaseImageRepositoryEnv }}
               value: {{ .Values.registry.initDatabase }}/{{ .Values.initDatabase.name }}
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: {{ $initDatabaseVersion }}
+              value: {{ $initDatabaseVersion | quote }}
             - name: DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: {{ $databaseVersion }}
+              value: {{ $databaseVersion | quote }}
             # Ops Manager
             - name: {{ $opsManagerImageRepositoryEnv }}
               value: {{ .Values.registry.opsManager }}/{{ .Values.opsManager.name }}
             - name: {{ $initOpsManagerImageRepositoryEnv }}
               value: {{ .Values.registry.initOpsManager }}/{{ .Values.initOpsManager.name }}
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
-              value: {{ $initOpsManagerVersion }}
+              value: {{ $initOpsManagerVersion | quote }}
             # AppDB
             - name: {{ $initAppDbImageRepositoryEnv }}
               value: {{ .Values.registry.initAppDb }}/{{ .Values.initAppDb.name }}
             - name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
-              value: {{ $initAppDbVersion }}
+              value: {{ $initAppDbVersion | quote }}
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
               value: {{ .Values.registry.pullPolicy }}
             - name: {{ $agentImageEnv }}
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ spec:
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_{{ $opsManagerImageRepositoryEnv }}_{{ $version | replace "." "_" | replace "-" "_" }}
               value: "{{ $.Values.registry.opsManager }}/{{ $.Values.opsManager.name }}:{{ $version }}"
       {{- end }}
-      # since the official server images end with a different suffix we can re-use the same $mongodbImageEnv
+            # since the official server images end with a different suffix we can re-use the same $mongodbImageEnv
       {{- range $version := .Values.relatedImages.mongodb }}
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_{{ $mongodbImageEnv }}_{{ $version | replace "." "_" | replace "-" "_" }}
               value: "{{ $.Values.mongodb.repo }}/{{ $.Values.mongodb.name }}:{{ $version }}"
diff --git a/helm_chart/tests/operator_env_vars_type_test.yaml b/helm_chart/tests/operator_env_vars_type_test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8fcaa3e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helm_chart/tests/operator_env_vars_type_test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+suite: Environment Variable Quoting Check
+templates:
+  - operator.yaml
+tests:
+  - it: should correctly quote the value for the env vars for container images
+    set:
+      initDatabase.version: 1234
+      database.version: 12d3f4
+      initOpsManager.version: 1.2.3
+      initAppDb.version: abc
+    asserts:      
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
+            value: "1234"
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: DATABASE_VERSION
+            value: "12d3f4"
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
+            value: "1.2.3"
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
+            value: "abc"
+  - it: should correctly quote the value for the env vars for container images even when they are passed quoted
+    set:
+      initDatabase.version: "1234"
+      database.version: "12d3f4"
+      initOpsManager.version: "1.2.3"
+      initAppDb.version: "abc"
+    asserts:      
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
+            value: "1234"
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: DATABASE_VERSION
+            value: "12d3f4"
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
+            value: "1.2.3"
+      - contains:
+          path: spec.template.spec.containers[0].env
+          content:
+            name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
+            value: "abc"
diff --git a/public/mongodb-kubernetes-multi-cluster.yaml b/public/mongodb-kubernetes-multi-cluster.yaml
index e6d9c5057..2bdb16432 100644
--- a/public/mongodb-kubernetes-multi-cluster.yaml
+++ b/public/mongodb-kubernetes-multi-cluster.yaml
@@ -380,21 +380,21 @@ spec:
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-database
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # Ops Manager
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-ops-manager
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # AppDB
             - name: INIT_APPDB_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-appdb
             - name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
               value: Always
             - name: AGENT_IMAGE
diff --git a/public/mongodb-kubernetes-openshift.yaml b/public/mongodb-kubernetes-openshift.yaml
index cd5cc278c..1e2862468 100644
--- a/public/mongodb-kubernetes-openshift.yaml
+++ b/public/mongodb-kubernetes-openshift.yaml
@@ -375,21 +375,21 @@ spec:
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-database
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # Ops Manager
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-ops-manager
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # AppDB
             - name: INIT_APPDB_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-appdb
             - name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
               value: Always
             - name: AGENT_IMAGE
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ spec:
               value: "quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi:8.0.14"
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY_8_0_15
               value: "quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi:8.0.15"
-      # since the official server images end with a different suffix we can re-use the same $mongodbImageEnv
+            # since the official server images end with a different suffix we can re-use the same $mongodbImageEnv
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_MONGODB_IMAGE_4_4_0_ubi8
               value: "quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-server:4.4.0-ubi8"
             - name: RELATED_IMAGE_MONGODB_IMAGE_4_4_1_ubi8
diff --git a/public/mongodb-kubernetes.yaml b/public/mongodb-kubernetes.yaml
index ced86abb4..53de57140 100644
--- a/public/mongodb-kubernetes.yaml
+++ b/public/mongodb-kubernetes.yaml
@@ -376,21 +376,21 @@ spec:
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-database
             - name: INIT_DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: DATABASE_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # Ops Manager
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-enterprise-ops-manager-ubi
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-ops-manager
             - name: INIT_OPS_MANAGER_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             # AppDB
             - name: INIT_APPDB_IMAGE_REPOSITORY
               value: quay.io/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes-init-appdb
             - name: INIT_APPDB_VERSION
-              value: 1.5.0
+              value: "1.5.0"
             - name: OPS_MANAGER_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
               value: Always
             - name: AGENT_IMAGE