diff --git a/local-setup/kustomize/base/istio-operator/istio.yaml b/local-setup/kustomize/base/istio-operator/istio.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 8fd0d01b..00000000
--- a/local-setup/kustomize/base/istio-operator/istio.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
----
-apiVersion: install.istio.io/v1alpha1
-kind: IstioOperator
-metadata:
-  name: istio-operator
-  namespace: istio-system
-spec:
-  components:
-    cni:
-      namespace: istio-system
-      enabled: true
----
diff --git a/local-setup/scripts/start.sh b/local-setup/scripts/start.sh
index 2d31935d..820f1955 100755
--- a/local-setup/scripts/start.sh
+++ b/local-setup/scripts/start.sh
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ helm upgrade -i -n flux-system --create-namespace flux oci://ghcr.io/fluxcd-comm
 echo -e "${COL}[$(date '+%H:%M:%S')] Starting deployments ${COL_RES}"
 kubectl apply -k $SCRIPT_DIR/../kustomize/overlays/default
 
-sleep 5
-kubectl apply -f $SCRIPT_DIR/../kustomize/base/istio-operator
-
 echo -e "${COL}[$(date '+%H:%M:%S')] Creating necessary secrets ${COL_RES}"
 kubectl create secret docker-registry ghcr-credentials -n openmfp-system --docker-server=ghcr.io --docker-username=$ghUser --docker-password=$ghToken --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -