diff --git a/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/registry/registry.go b/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/registry/registry.go
index 31e2d173f78..8c1b81fdf80 100644
--- a/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/registry/registry.go
+++ b/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/registry/registry.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func ReconcileRegistryConfig(cfg *imageregistryv1.Config, platform hyperv1.Platf
 	if cfg.Spec.HTTPSecret == "" {
 		cfg.Spec.HTTPSecret = generateImageRegistrySecret()
 	}
-	if platform == hyperv1.KubevirtPlatform || platform == hyperv1.NonePlatform {
+	if platform == hyperv1.KubevirtPlatform || platform == hyperv1.NonePlatform && cfg.Spec.Storage.EmptyDir == nil {
 		cfg.Spec.Storage = imageregistryv1.ImageRegistryConfigStorage{EmptyDir: &imageregistryv1.ImageRegistryConfigStorageEmptyDir{}}
 	}
 }