diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
index 7f2cdbad18..046677bd69 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/Operator.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.apiextensions.v1.CustomResourceDefinition;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
@@ -24,10 +25,19 @@ public class Operator {
   private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Operator.class);
   private final KubernetesClient k8sClient;
   private final ConfigurationService configurationService;
+  private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;
 
   public Operator(KubernetesClient k8sClient, ConfigurationService configurationService) {
+    this(k8sClient, configurationService, new ObjectMapper());
+  }
+
+  public Operator(
+      KubernetesClient k8sClient,
+      ConfigurationService configurationService,
+      ObjectMapper objectMapper) {
     this.k8sClient = k8sClient;
     this.configurationService = configurationService;
+    this.objectMapper = objectMapper;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -131,7 +141,7 @@ public <R extends CustomResource> void register(
           new EventDispatcher(
               controller, finalizer, new EventDispatcher.CustomResourceFacade(client));
 
-      CustomResourceCache customResourceCache = new CustomResourceCache();
+      CustomResourceCache customResourceCache = new CustomResourceCache(objectMapper);
       DefaultEventHandler defaultEventHandler =
           new DefaultEventHandler(customResourceCache, dispatcher, controllerName, retry);
       DefaultEventSourceManager eventSourceManager =
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/CustomResourceCache.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/CustomResourceCache.java
index 09279a91c4..8cea9776ec 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/CustomResourceCache.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/CustomResourceCache.java
@@ -3,23 +3,32 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
-import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
 public class CustomResourceCache {
 
   private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(CustomResourceCache.class);
 
-  private ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
-  private final Map<String, CustomResource> resources = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+  private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;
+  private final ConcurrentMap<String, CustomResource> resources = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
   private final Lock lock = new ReentrantLock();
 
+  public CustomResourceCache() {
+    this(new ObjectMapper());
+  }
+
+  public CustomResourceCache(ObjectMapper objectMapper) {
+    this.objectMapper = objectMapper;
+  }
+
   public void cacheResource(CustomResource resource) {
     try {
       lock.lock();
@@ -49,18 +58,13 @@ public void cacheResource(CustomResource resource, Predicate<CustomResource> pre
    * @return
    */
   public Optional<CustomResource> getLatestResource(String uuid) {
-    return Optional.ofNullable(clone(resources.get(uuid)));
+    return Optional.ofNullable(resources.get(uuid)).map(this::clone);
   }
 
   private CustomResource clone(CustomResource customResource) {
     try {
-      if (customResource == null) {
-        return null;
-      }
-      CustomResource clonedObject =
-          objectMapper.readValue(
-              objectMapper.writeValueAsString(customResource), customResource.getClass());
-      return clonedObject;
+      return objectMapper.readValue(
+          objectMapper.writeValueAsString(customResource), customResource.getClass());
     } catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
       throw new IllegalStateException(e);
     }
diff --git a/operator-framework-spring-boot-starter/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/springboot/starter/OperatorAutoConfiguration.java b/operator-framework-spring-boot-starter/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/springboot/starter/OperatorAutoConfiguration.java
index ba109428b0..9005d2bd79 100644
--- a/operator-framework-spring-boot-starter/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/springboot/starter/OperatorAutoConfiguration.java
+++ b/operator-framework-spring-boot-starter/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/springboot/starter/OperatorAutoConfiguration.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.springboot.starter;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.Config;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.ConfigBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
@@ -59,8 +60,13 @@ public boolean checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel() {
   @Bean
   @ConditionalOnMissingBean(Operator.class)
   public Operator operator(
-      KubernetesClient kubernetesClient, List<ResourceController<?>> resourceControllers) {
-    Operator operator = new Operator(kubernetesClient, this);
+      KubernetesClient kubernetesClient,
+      List<ResourceController<?>> resourceControllers,
+      Optional<ObjectMapper> objectMapper) {
+    Operator operator =
+        objectMapper
+            .map(x -> new Operator(kubernetesClient, this, x))
+            .orElse(new Operator(kubernetesClient, this));
     resourceControllers.forEach(r -> operator.register(processController(r)));
     return operator;
   }