diff --git a/config/dependencies/istio/sail/deployment_patch.yaml b/config/dependencies/istio/sail/deployment_patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea48c7e37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/dependencies/istio/sail/deployment_patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: istio-operator
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: manager
+        # nightly build from commit b7f5286be0bc25cb257bc439e7c18acb99dce26f
+        image: quay.io/maistra-dev/istio-operator:3.0-nightly-2024-01-18
diff --git a/config/dependencies/istio/sail/kustomization.yaml b/config/dependencies/istio/sail/kustomization.yaml
index 52019af44..e642d7ff9 100644
--- a/config/dependencies/istio/sail/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/dependencies/istio/sail/kustomization.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 ---
 namespace: istio-system
 resources:
-- github.com/maistra/istio-operator/config/default?ref=maistra-3.0
+- github.com/maistra/istio-operator/config/default?ref=b7f5286be0bc25cb257bc439e7c18acb99dce26f
+# commit sha from prior to removal of kustomize manifests
+patches:
+- path: deployment_patch.yaml
+  target:
+    kind: Deployment
+    name: istio-operator