diff --git a/roles/kubernetes-apps/vars/main.yml b/roles/kubernetes-apps/vars/main.yml
index b3c6c5bc6..9ce567414 100644
--- a/roles/kubernetes-apps/vars/main.yml
+++ b/roles/kubernetes-apps/vars/main.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,12 @@
 ---
-kubectl_apply_stdin: "{{ kubectl }} apply -f - -n {{ k8s_namespace }}"
+_kubectl_apply_stdin:
+- "{{ kubectl }}"
+- apply
+- -f
+- "-"
+- -n
+- "{{ k8s_namespace }}"
+- --server-side="{{ server_side_apply | lower }}"
+# TODO: switch to default SSA
+server_side_apply: false
+kubectl_apply_stdin: "{{ _kubectl_apply_stdin | join(' ') }}"