diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 344a7047c..c5a45b3ac 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/tls"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ import (
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/healthz"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log/zap"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/metrics/filters"
 	metricsserver "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/metrics/server"
 
 	clusterv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/api/v1beta1"
@@ -81,13 +83,21 @@ func init() {
 func main() {
 	var metricsAddr string
 	var enableLeaderElection bool
+	var secureMetrics bool
+	var enableHTTP2 bool
 	var probeAddr string
 	var enabledController string
-	flag.StringVar(&metricsAddr, "metrics-bind-address", ":8080", "The address the metric endpoint binds to.")
+	flag.StringVar(&metricsAddr, "metrics-bind-address", ":8443", "The address the metric endpoint binds to. "+
+		"Use :8080 for http and :8443 for https. Setting to 0 will disable the metrics endpoint.")
 	flag.StringVar(&probeAddr, "health-probe-bind-address", ":8081", "The address the probe endpoint binds to.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&enableLeaderElection, "leader-elect", false,
 		"Enable leader election for controller manager. "+
 			"Enabling this will ensure there is only one active controller manager.")
+	flag.BoolVar(&secureMetrics, "metrics-secure", true,
+		"If set, the metrics endpoint is served securely via HTTPS. Use --metrics-secure=false to use HTTP instead.")
+	flag.BoolVar(&enableHTTP2, "enable-http2", false,
+		"If set, HTTP/2 will be enabled for the metrics and webhook servers")
+
 	flag.StringVar(&enabledController, "enable-controller", "", "The controller to enable. Default: all")
 	opts := zap.Options{
 		Development: true,
@@ -103,11 +113,28 @@ func main() {
 
 	ctrl.SetLogger(zap.New(zap.UseFlagOptions(&opts)))
 
+	var tlsOpts []func(*tls.Config)
+	disableHTTP2 := func(c *tls.Config) {
+		setupLog.Info("disabling http/2")
+		c.NextProtos = []string{"http/1.1"}
+	}
+	if !enableHTTP2 {
+		tlsOpts = append(tlsOpts, disableHTTP2)
+	}
+
+	metricsOpts := metricsserver.Options{
+		BindAddress:   metricsAddr,
+		SecureServing: secureMetrics,
+		TLSOpts:       tlsOpts,
+	}
+
+	if secureMetrics {
+		metricsOpts.FilterProvider = filters.WithAuthenticationAndAuthorization
+	}
+
 	mgr, err := ctrl.NewManager(ctrl.GetConfigOrDie(), ctrl.Options{
-		Scheme: scheme,
-		Metrics: metricsserver.Options{
-			BindAddress: metricsAddr,
-		},
+		Scheme:                 scheme,
+		Metrics:                metricsOpts,
 		HealthProbeBindAddress: probeAddr,
 		LeaderElection:         enableLeaderElection,
 		LeaderElectionID:       fmt.Sprintf("%x.k0smotron.io", md5.Sum([]byte(enabledController))),
diff --git a/config/default/manager_auth_proxy_patch.yaml b/config/default/manager_auth_proxy_patch.yaml
index 752cd27aa..80c277eb0 100644
--- a/config/default/manager_auth_proxy_patch.yaml
+++ b/config/default/manager_auth_proxy_patch.yaml
@@ -25,29 +25,6 @@ spec:
                   values:
                     - linux
       containers:
-      - name: kube-rbac-proxy
-        securityContext:
-          allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
-          capabilities:
-            drop:
-              - "ALL"
-        image: gcr.io/kubebuilder/kube-rbac-proxy:v0.13.1
-        args:
-        - "--secure-listen-address=0.0.0.0:8443"
-        - "--upstream=http://127.0.0.1:8080/"
-        - "--logtostderr=true"
-        - "--v=0"
-        ports:
-        - containerPort: 8443
-          protocol: TCP
-          name: https
-        resources:
-          limits:
-            cpu: 500m
-            memory: 128Mi
-          requests:
-            cpu: 5m
-            memory: 64Mi
       - name: manager
         args:
         - "--health-probe-bind-address=:8081"