diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/deploy-test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..285931ad22c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+name: Build, Deploy and Test on kind
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - '*'
+
+env:
+  IMG: gitops-operator:test
+
+jobs:
+  deploy-test:
+    name: Build image, deploy to kind cluster and run tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5 # v4
+
+      - name: Setup Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@40f1582b2485089dde7abd97c1529aa768e1baff # v5
+        with:
+          go-version-file: 'go.mod'
+
+      - name: Create kind cluster
+        uses: helm/kind-action@ef37e7f390d99f746eb8b610417061a60e82a6cc # v1
+        with:
+          cluster_name: gitops-test
+
+      - name: Disable webhook and prometheus for non-OCP cluster
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|^- ../webhook|#- ../webhook|' config/default/kustomization.yaml
+          sed -i 's|^- manager_webhook_patch.yaml|#- manager_webhook_patch.yaml|' config/default/kustomization.yaml
+          sed -i 's|^- ../prometheus|#- ../prometheus|' config/default/kustomization.yaml
+  
+      - name: Build manager image
+        run: |
+          make docker-build IMG=${{ env.IMG }}
+
+      - name: Load image into kind
+        run: |
+          kind load docker-image ${{ env.IMG }} --name gitops-test
+
+      - name: Install CRDs
+        run: |
+          make install
+
+      - name: Deploy operator
+        run: |
+          make deploy IMG=${{ env.IMG }}
+
+      - name: Verify Controller Manager deployment is available
+        run: |
+          kubectl get deployment -n openshift-gitops-operator
+          kubectl describe deployment -n openshift-gitops-operator
+          kubectl wait --for=condition=available --timeout=120s \
+            deployment/openshift-gitops-operator-controller-manager \
+            -n openshift-gitops-operator
diff --git a/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml b/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml
index 738de350b71..8b4e4aa8d77 100644
--- a/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml
+++ b/config/default/manager_webhook_patch.yaml
@@ -21,3 +21,4 @@ spec:
         secret:
           defaultMode: 420
           secretName: webhook-server-cert
+          optional: true