diff --git a/pkg/ansible/controller/controller.go b/pkg/ansible/controller/controller.go
index 9c542779e83..0a4c0b0b2a9 100644
--- a/pkg/ansible/controller/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/ansible/controller/controller.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
 	crthandler "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/handler"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
@@ -56,7 +57,13 @@ func Add(mgr manager.Manager, options Options) *controller.Controller {
 	eventHandlers := append(options.EventHandlers, events.NewLoggingEventHandler(options.LoggingLevel))
 
 	aor := &AnsibleOperatorReconciler{
-		Client:          mgr.GetClient(),
+		// The default client will use the DelegatingReader for reads
+		// this forces it to use the cache for unstructured types.
+		Client: client.DelegatingClient{
+			Reader:       mgr.GetCache(),
+			Writer:       mgr.GetClient(),
+			StatusClient: mgr.GetClient(),
+		},
 		GVK:             options.GVK,
 		Runner:          options.Runner,
 		EventHandlers:   eventHandlers,
diff --git a/pkg/helm/controller/controller.go b/pkg/helm/controller/controller.go
index 3d57b76cad9..093904a02d1 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/controller/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/controller/controller.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	rpb "k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/release"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/event"
 	crthandler "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/handler"
@@ -56,7 +57,13 @@ type WatchOptions struct {
 // Add creates a new helm operator controller and adds it to the manager
 func Add(mgr manager.Manager, options WatchOptions) error {
 	r := &HelmOperatorReconciler{
-		Client:          mgr.GetClient(),
+		// The default client will use the DelegatingReader for reads
+		// this forces it to use the cache for unstructured types.
+		Client: client.DelegatingClient{
+			Reader:       mgr.GetCache(),
+			Writer:       mgr.GetClient(),
+			StatusClient: mgr.GetClient(),
+		},
 		GVK:             options.GVK,
 		ManagerFactory:  options.ManagerFactory,
 		ReconcilePeriod: options.ReconcilePeriod,