diff --git a/hack/dev/deployment.yaml b/hack/dev/deployment.yaml
index 640a3a4..bf75e4c 100644
--- a/hack/dev/deployment.yaml
+++ b/hack/dev/deployment.yaml
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ spec:
           env:
             - name: CLOUDFLARED_REPLICA_COUNT
               value: "1"
+            - name: CLOUDFLARED_IMAGE
+              value: "cloudflare/cloudflared:latest"
+            - name: CLOUDFLARED_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
+              value: "IfNotPresent"
             - name: CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controlled-cloudflared-connector.go b/pkg/controller/controlled-cloudflared-connector.go
index 16eb784..8cc55dd 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controlled-cloudflared-connector.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controlled-cloudflared-connector.go
@@ -96,8 +96,17 @@ func CreateOrUpdateControlledCloudflared(
 
 func cloudflaredConnectDeploymentTemplating(protocol string, token string, namespace string, replicas int32) *appsv1.Deployment {
 	appName := "controlled-cloudflared-connector"
+
+	// Use default values if environment variables are empty
 	image := os.Getenv("CLOUDFLARED_IMAGE")
+	if image == "" {
+		image = "cloudflare/cloudflared:latest"
+	}
+
 	pullPolicy := os.Getenv("CLOUDFLARED_IMAGE_PULL_POLICY")
+	if pullPolicy == "" {
+		pullPolicy = "IfNotPresent"
+	}
 
 	return &appsv1.Deployment{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{