diff --git a/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md b/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md
index 7edb08e5b..cd1ad58f0 100644
--- a/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/charts/kong/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased
+
+* Don't include a clear-stale-pid initContainer when kong gateway is not
+  enabled in the deployment.
+  [#744](https://github.com/Kong/charts/pull/744)
+
 ## 2.16.4
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/charts/kong/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/kong/templates/deployment.yaml
index 3fabb3d7c..a4bb4c0b7 100644
--- a/charts/kong/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/kong/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ spec:
         - name: {{ . }}
       {{- end }}
       {{- end }}
+      {{- if .Values.deployment.kong.enabled }}
       initContainers:
       - name: clear-stale-pid
         image: {{ include "kong.getRepoTag" .Values.image }}
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ spec:
         {{- if (and (not (eq .Values.env.database "off")) .Values.waitImage.enabled) }}
         {{- include "kong.wait-for-db" . | nindent 6 }}
         {{- end }}
+      {{- end }}
       {{- if .Values.deployment.hostAliases }}
       hostAliases:
         {{- toYaml .Values.deployment.hostAliases | nindent 6 }}