diff --git a/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.sh b/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.sh
index 29d0fe75..c19bdd09 100755
--- a/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.sh
+++ b/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.sh
@@ -22,4 +22,11 @@ SERVICEMESH_RESOURCES=(
   done
 }
 
+approve_install(){
+    oc -n redhat-ods-operator \
+    patch subscription rhods-operator \
+    --type=merge --patch '{"spec":{"installPlanApproval":{"Automatic"}}}'
+}
+
 wait_for_service_mesh
+approve_install
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.yaml b/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.yaml
index c22b72a7..6b523779 100644
--- a/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.yaml
+++ b/components/operators/rhods-operator/instance/components/wait-for-servicemesh/job.yaml
@@ -21,6 +21,14 @@ rules:
     verbs:
       - get
       - list
+  - apiGroups:
+      - operators.coreos.com
+    resources:
+      - subscriptions
+    verbs:
+      - get
+      - list
+      - patch
 ---
 kind: ClusterRoleBinding
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
diff --git a/components/operators/rhods-operator/operator/overlays/stable-pre-2.6/kustomization.yaml b/components/operators/rhods-operator/operator/overlays/stable-pre-2.6/kustomization.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 975881f4..00000000
--- a/components/operators/rhods-operator/operator/overlays/stable-pre-2.6/kustomization.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: Kustomization
-
-resources:
-  - ../../base
-
-patches:
-  - target:
-      kind: Subscription
-      name: rhods-operator
-    path: patch-channel.yaml
diff --git a/components/operators/rhods-operator/operator/overlays/stable-pre-2.6/patch-channel.yaml b/components/operators/rhods-operator/operator/overlays/stable-pre-2.6/patch-channel.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index a6c644e5..00000000
--- a/components/operators/rhods-operator/operator/overlays/stable-pre-2.6/patch-channel.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-- op: replace
-  path: /spec/channel
-  value: stable
-- op: replace
-  path: /spec/startingCSV
-  value: rhods-operator.1.30.0
diff --git a/demos/rhoai-demo-ready/kustomization.yaml b/demos/rhoai-demo-ready/kustomization.yaml
index ddde118d..f3e877ee 100644
--- a/demos/rhoai-demo-ready/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/demos/rhoai-demo-ready/kustomization.yaml
@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@ patches:
       - op: replace
         path: /spec/text
         value: 'DEMO: Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)'
+    # kludge: allow servicemesh to install before rhoai
+  - target:
+      kind: Subscription
+      name: rhods-operator
+    patch: |-
+      - op: replace
+        path: /spec/installPlanApproval
+        value: Manual
   # - target:
   #     group: user.openshift.io
   #     kind: Group