diff --git a/pkg/operator/render/options/generic.go b/pkg/operator/render/options/generic.go
index c0efaea8c6..d9ae99fe85 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/render/options/generic.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/render/options/generic.go
@@ -132,6 +132,30 @@ func (o *GenericOptions) FeatureGates() (featuregates.FeatureGateAccess, error)
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot return FeatureGate without rendered manifests")
 	}
 
+	manifests, err := o.FeatureGateManifests()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading input manifests: %w", err)
+	}
+	// they're all the same, so just get the first
+	featureGate, err := manifests[0].GetDecodedObj()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error decoding FeatureGates: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	ret, err := featuregates.NewHardcodedFeatureGateAccessFromFeatureGate(featureGate.(*configv1.FeatureGate), o.PayloadVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating feature accessor: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return ret, nil
+}
+
+// FeatureGateManifests is exposed for usage in getting FeatureGateAccess and for convenient by cluster-config-operator
+func (o *GenericOptions) FeatureGateManifests() (RenderedManifests, error) {
+	if len(o.RenderedManifestInputFilenames) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
 	inputManifest, err := o.ReadInputManifests()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading input manifests: %w", err)
@@ -140,10 +164,15 @@ func (o *GenericOptions) FeatureGates() (featuregates.FeatureGateAccess, error)
 	if len(featureGates) == 0 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no FeatureGates found in manfest dir: %v", o.RenderedManifestInputFilenames)
 	}
+
+	ret := RenderedManifests{}
+
 	var prev *RenderedManifest
 	var featureGate *configv1.FeatureGate
 	for i := range featureGates {
 		curr := featureGates[i]
+		ret = append(ret, curr)
+
 		decodedObj, err := curr.GetDecodedObj()
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("decoding failure for %q: %w", curr.OriginalFilename, err)
@@ -163,12 +192,25 @@ func (o *GenericOptions) FeatureGates() (featuregates.FeatureGateAccess, error)
 		}
 	}
 
-	ret, err := featuregates.NewHardcodedFeatureGateAccessFromFeatureGate(featureGate, o.PayloadVersion)
+	return ret, nil
+}
+
+func (o *GenericOptions) FeatureSetName() (configv1.FeatureSet, error) {
+	if len(o.RenderedManifestInputFilenames) == 0 {
+		return configv1.FeatureSet(o.FeatureSet), nil
+	}
+
+	manifests, err := o.FeatureGateManifests()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating feature accessor: %w", err)
+		return "MISSING", fmt.Errorf("error reading input manifests: %w", err)
+	}
+	// they're all the same, so just get the first
+	featureGate, err := manifests[0].GetDecodedObj()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "MISSING", fmt.Errorf("error decoding FeatureGates: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	return ret, nil
+	return featureGate.(*configv1.FeatureGate).Spec.FeatureSet, nil
 }
 
 // ApplyTo applies the options to the given config struct using the provided text/template data.
diff --git a/pkg/operator/render/render.go b/pkg/operator/render/render.go
index 9c772a56c2..adffee5c38 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/render/render.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/render/render.go
@@ -11,8 +11,13 @@ import (
 
 // WriteFiles writes the manifests and the bootstrap config file.
 func WriteFiles(opt *options.GenericOptions, fileConfig *options.FileConfig, templateData interface{}, additionalPredicates ...assets.FileInfoPredicate) error {
+	featureSet, err := opt.FeatureSetName()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	defaultPredicates := []assets.FileInfoPredicate{assets.OnlyYaml}
-	manifestPredicates := []assets.FileContentsPredicate{assets.InstallerFeatureSet(opt.FeatureSet)}
+	manifestPredicates := []assets.FileContentsPredicate{assets.InstallerFeatureSet(string(featureSet))}
 
 	// write assets
 	for _, manifestDir := range []string{"bootstrap-manifests", "manifests"} {