diff --git a/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/cluster_role.go b/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/cluster_role.go
index 861e89968f8f..e9c811b57c59 100644
--- a/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/cluster_role.go
+++ b/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/cluster_role.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ package resources
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
 	redpandav1alpha1 "github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/src/go/k8s/apis/redpanda/v1alpha1"
@@ -53,7 +54,19 @@ func (r *ClusterRoleResource) Ensure(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if r.pandaCluster.ExternalListener() == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
-	_, err := CreateIfNotExists(ctx, r, r.obj(), r.logger)
+
+	obj := r.obj()
+	created, err := CreateIfNotExists(ctx, r, obj, r.logger)
+	if err != nil || created {
+		return err
+	}
+	var cr v1.ClusterRole
+	err = r.Get(ctx, r.Key(), &cr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error while fetching ClusterRole resource: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	_, err = Update(ctx, &cr, obj, r.Client, r.logger)
 	return err
 }
 
diff --git a/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/statefulset.go b/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/statefulset.go
index 1a1309dd0e60..4628a3d54762 100644
--- a/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/statefulset.go
+++ b/src/go/k8s/pkg/resources/statefulset.go
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ func (r *StatefulSetResource) obj(
 		})
 	}
 
-	setCloudStorage(ss, r.pandaCluster)
+	setVolumes(ss, r.pandaCluster)
 
 	rpkStatusContainer := r.rpkStatusContainer(tlsVolumeMounts)
 	if rpkStatusContainer != nil {
@@ -613,9 +613,9 @@ func (r *StatefulSetResource) composeCURLMaintenanceCommand(
 	return cmd
 }
 
-// setCloudStorage manipulates v1.StatefulSet object in order to add cloud storage specific
-// properties to Redpanda pod.
-func setCloudStorage(
+// setVolumes manipulates v1.StatefulSet object in order to add cloud storage and
+// Redpanda data volume
+func setVolumes(
 	ss *appsv1.StatefulSet, cluster *redpandav1alpha1.Cluster,
 ) {
 	pvcDataDir := preparePVCResource(datadirName, cluster.Namespace, cluster.Spec.Storage, ss.Labels)