diff --git a/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtils.java b/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtils.java
index 448f01acea..2c9b79c2b4 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtils.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtils.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator;
 
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.Controller;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.ResourceController;
@@ -20,6 +21,15 @@ static String getDefaultFinalizerIdentifier(ResourceController controller) {
         return getAnnotation(controller).crdName() + FINALIZER_NAME_SUFFIX;
     }
     
+    /**
+     * @param finalizer
+     * @return
+     * @deprecated this should be removed once k8s client provides that method on HasMetadata
+     */
+    static boolean isFinalizerValid(String finalizer) {
+        return HasMetadata.FINALIZER_NAME_MATCHER.reset(finalizer).matches();
+    }
+    
     static boolean getGenerationEventProcessing(ResourceController controller) {
         return getAnnotation(controller).generationAwareEventProcessing();
     }
@@ -27,7 +37,7 @@ static boolean getGenerationEventProcessing(ResourceController controller) {
     static <R extends CustomResource> Class<R> getCustomResourceClass(ResourceController<R> controller) {
         return (Class<R>) getAnnotation(controller).customResourceClass();
     }
-
+    
     static String getCrdName(ResourceController controller) {
         return getAnnotation(controller).crdName();
     }
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ConcurrencyIT.java b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ConcurrencyIT.java
index e12b642122..f13a4d4846 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ConcurrencyIT.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ConcurrencyIT.java
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ConfigMap;
-import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.DefaultKubernetesClient;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.sample.TestCustomResource;
@@ -34,10 +33,9 @@ public class ConcurrencyIT {
     public void setup() {
         KubernetesClient k8sClient = new DefaultKubernetesClient();
         final TestCustomResourceController controller = new TestCustomResourceController(k8sClient, true);
-        assertThat(HasMetadata.FINALIZER_NAME_MATCHER.reset(ControllerUtils.getDefaultFinalizerIdentifier(controller)).matches()).isTrue();
         integrationTest.initialize(k8sClient, controller, "test-crd.yaml");
     }
-
+    
     @BeforeEach
     public void cleanup() {
         integrationTest.cleanup();
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtilsTest.java b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtilsTest.java
index 7280806d89..c78f4f8454 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtilsTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/ControllerUtilsTest.java
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator;
 
-import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.Context;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.Controller;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.ResourceController;
@@ -14,34 +13,34 @@
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 
 class ControllerUtilsTest {
-
+    
     public static final String CUSTOM_FINALIZER_NAME = "a.custom/finalizer";
-
+    
     @Test
     public void returnsValuesFromControllerAnnotationFinalizer() {
         final TestCustomResourceController controller = new TestCustomResourceController(null);
         final String finalizer = ControllerUtils.getFinalizer(controller);
         Assertions.assertEquals(TestCustomResourceController.FINALIZER_NAME, finalizer);
-        Assertions.assertTrue(HasMetadata.FINALIZER_NAME_MATCHER.reset(finalizer).matches());
+        Assertions.assertTrue(ControllerUtils.isFinalizerValid(finalizer));
         assertEquals(TestCustomResource.class, ControllerUtils.getCustomResourceClass(controller));
         Assertions.assertEquals(TestCustomResourceController.CRD_NAME, ControllerUtils.getCrdName(controller));
         assertFalse(ControllerUtils.getGenerationEventProcessing(controller));
     }
-
+    
     @Controller(crdName = "test.crd", customResourceClass = TestCustomResource.class, finalizerName = CUSTOM_FINALIZER_NAME)
     static class TestCustomFinalizerController implements ResourceController<TestCustomResource> {
-
+        
         @Override
         public boolean deleteResource(TestCustomResource resource, Context<TestCustomResource> context) {
             return false;
         }
-
+        
         @Override
         public UpdateControl<TestCustomResource> createOrUpdateResource(TestCustomResource resource, Context<TestCustomResource> context) {
             return null;
         }
     }
-
+    
     @Test
     public void returnCustomerFinalizerNameIfSet() {
         assertEquals(CUSTOM_FINALIZER_NAME, ControllerUtils.getFinalizer(new TestCustomFinalizerController()));
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/IntegrationTestSupport.java b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/IntegrationTestSupport.java
index 7fc3158248..2844cdb4f9 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/IntegrationTestSupport.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/IntegrationTestSupport.java
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ public class IntegrationTestSupport {
     private ResourceController controller;
 
     public void initialize(KubernetesClient k8sClient, ResourceController controller, String crdPath) {
+        assertThat(ControllerUtils.isFinalizerValid(ControllerUtils.getDefaultFinalizerIdentifier(controller))).isTrue();
+    
         log.info("Initializing integration test in namespace {}", TEST_NAMESPACE);
         this.k8sClient = k8sClient;
         loadCRDAndApplyToCluster(crdPath);
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ public void initialize(KubernetesClient k8sClient, ResourceController controller
     
         Class customResourceClass = ControllerUtils.getCustomResourceClass(controller);
         this.crOperations = k8sClient.customResources(customResourceClass, CustomResourceList.class);
-
+    
         if (k8sClient.namespaces().withName(TEST_NAMESPACE).get() == null) {
             k8sClient.namespaces().create(new NamespaceBuilder()
                     .withMetadata(new ObjectMetaBuilder().withName(TEST_NAMESPACE).build()).build());
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/SubResourceUpdateIT.java b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/SubResourceUpdateIT.java
index 7e7ae2ed87..9a68ee27ac 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/SubResourceUpdateIT.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/SubResourceUpdateIT.java
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
-import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ObjectMetaBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.DefaultKubernetesClient;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
@@ -10,7 +9,6 @@
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.sample.subresource.SubResourceTestCustomResourceController;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.sample.subresource.SubResourceTestCustomResourceSpec;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.sample.subresource.SubResourceTestCustomResourceStatus;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestInstance;
@@ -24,11 +22,6 @@ public class SubResourceUpdateIT {
     
     private IntegrationTestSupport integrationTestSupport = new IntegrationTestSupport();
     
-    @BeforeAll
-    void checkFinalizer() {
-        assertThat(HasMetadata.FINALIZER_NAME_MATCHER.reset(ControllerUtils.getDefaultFinalizerIdentifier(new SubResourceTestCustomResourceController())).matches()).isTrue();
-    }
-    
     @BeforeEach
     public void initAndCleanup() {
         KubernetesClient k8sClient = new DefaultKubernetesClient();