diff --git a/internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go b/internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4fa0b377e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The cert-manager Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pkg/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestCAInjectorConfigurationDefaults(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name         string
+		config       *v1alpha1.CAInjectorConfiguration
+		jsonFilePath string
+	}{
+		{
+			"v1alpha1",
+			&v1alpha1.CAInjectorConfiguration{},
+			"testdata/defaults.json",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			SetObjectDefaults_CAInjectorConfiguration(tt.config)
+
+			defaultData, err := json.MarshalIndent(tt.config, "", "\t")
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			if os.Getenv("UPDATE_DEFAULTS") == "true" {
+				if err := os.WriteFile(tt.jsonFilePath, defaultData, 0644); err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				t.Log("cainjector config api defaults updated")
+			}
+
+			expectedData, err := os.ReadFile(tt.jsonFilePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			require.Equal(t, expectedData, defaultData)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json b/internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee6066438
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+	"leaderElectionConfig": {
+		"enabled": true,
+		"namespace": "kube-system",
+		"leaseDuration": 60000000000,
+		"renewDeadline": 40000000000,
+		"retryPeriod": 15000000000
+	},
+	"enableDataSourceConfig": {
+		"certificates": true
+	},
+	"enableInjectableConfig": {
+		"validatingWebhookConfigurations": true,
+		"mutatingWebhookConfigurations": true,
+		"customResourceDefinitions": true,
+		"apiServices": true
+	},
+	"enablePprof": false,
+	"pprofAddress": "localhost:6060",
+	"logging": {
+		"format": "text",
+		"flushFrequency": "5s",
+		"verbosity": 0,
+		"options": {
+			"json": {
+				"infoBufferSize": "0"
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go b/internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6927829f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The cert-manager Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pkg/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+const TestFileLocation = "testdata/defaults.json"
+
+func TestControllerConfigurationDefaults(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name         string
+		config       *v1alpha1.ControllerConfiguration
+		jsonFilePath string
+	}{
+		{
+			"v1alpha1",
+			&v1alpha1.ControllerConfiguration{},
+			"testdata/defaults.json",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		SetObjectDefaults_ControllerConfiguration(tt.config)
+
+		defaultData, err := json.MarshalIndent(tt.config, "", "\t")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if os.Getenv("UPDATE_DEFAULTS") == "true" {
+			if err := os.WriteFile(tt.jsonFilePath, defaultData, 0644); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			t.Log("cainjector config api defaults updated")
+		}
+
+		expectedData, err := os.ReadFile(tt.jsonFilePath)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		require.Equal(t, expectedData, defaultData)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json b/internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1004ab5d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+{
+	"kubernetesAPIQPS": 20,
+	"kubernetesAPIBurst": 50,
+	"clusterResourceNamespace": "kube-system",
+	"leaderElectionConfig": {
+		"enabled": true,
+		"namespace": "kube-system",
+		"leaseDuration": 60000000000,
+		"renewDeadline": 40000000000,
+		"retryPeriod": 15000000000,
+		"healthzTimeout": 20000000000
+	},
+	"controllers": [
+		"*"
+	],
+	"issuerAmbientCredentials": false,
+	"clusterIssuerAmbientCredentials": true,
+	"enableCertificateOwnerRef": false,
+	"copiedAnnotationPrefixes": [
+		"*",
+		"-kubectl.kubernetes.io/",
+		"-fluxcd.io/",
+		"-argocd.argoproj.io/"
+	],
+	"numberOfConcurrentWorkers": 5,
+	"maxConcurrentChallenges": 60,
+	"metricsListenAddress": "0.0.0.0:9402",
+	"metricsTLSConfig": {
+		"filesystem": {},
+		"dynamic": {
+			"LeafDuration": 0
+		}
+	},
+	"healthzListenAddress": "0.0.0.0:9403",
+	"enablePprof": false,
+	"pprofAddress": "localhost:6060",
+	"logging": {
+		"format": "text",
+		"flushFrequency": "5s",
+		"verbosity": 0,
+		"options": {
+			"json": {
+				"infoBufferSize": "0"
+			}
+		}
+	},
+	"ingressShimConfig": {
+		"defaultIssuerKind": "Issuer",
+		"defaultIssuerGroup": "cert-manager.io",
+		"defaultAutoCertificateAnnotations": [
+			"kubernetes.io/tls-acme"
+		]
+	},
+	"acmeHTTP01Config": {
+		"solverImage": "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-acmesolver:canary",
+		"solverResourceRequestCPU": "10m",
+		"solverResourceRequestMemory": "64Mi",
+		"solverResourceLimitsCPU": "100m",
+		"solverResourceLimitsMemory": "64Mi",
+		"solverRunAsNonRoot": true
+	},
+	"acmeDNS01Config": {
+		"recursiveNameserversOnly": false,
+		"checkRetryPeriod": 10000000000
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go b/internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d25842d34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/defaults_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The cert-manager Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pkg/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestWebhookConfigurationDefaults(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name         string
+		config       *v1alpha1.WebhookConfiguration
+		jsonFilePath string
+	}{
+		{
+			"v1alpha1",
+			&v1alpha1.WebhookConfiguration{},
+			"testdata/defaults.json",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			SetObjectDefaults_WebhookConfiguration(tt.config)
+
+			defaultData, err := json.MarshalIndent(tt.config, "", "\t")
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			if os.Getenv("UPDATE_DEFAULTS") == "true" {
+				if err := os.WriteFile(tt.jsonFilePath, defaultData, 0644); err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				t.Log("cainjector config api defaults updated")
+			}
+
+			expectedData, err := os.ReadFile(tt.jsonFilePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			require.Equal(t, expectedData, defaultData)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json b/internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4537a3e93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/testdata/defaults.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+	"securePort": 6443,
+	"healthzPort": 6080,
+	"tlsConfig": {
+		"filesystem": {},
+		"dynamic": {
+			"LeafDuration": 0
+		}
+	},
+	"enablePprof": false,
+	"pprofAddress": "localhost:6060",
+	"logging": {
+		"format": "text",
+		"flushFrequency": "5s",
+		"verbosity": 0,
+		"options": {
+			"json": {
+				"infoBufferSize": "0"
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/make/test.mk b/make/test.mk
index 4feb96189..fdf688b27 100644
--- a/make/test.mk
+++ b/make/test.mk
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@ unit-test-controller: | $(NEEDS_GOTESTSUM)
 unit-test-webhook: | $(NEEDS_GOTESTSUM)
 	cd cmd/webhook && $(GOTESTSUM) ./...
 
+.PHONY: update-config-api-defaults
+update-config-api-defaults: | $(NEEDS_GO)
+	cd internal/apis/config/cainjector/v1alpha1/ && UPDATE_DEFAULTS=true $(GO) test . && echo "cainjector config api defaults updated"
+	cd internal/apis/config/controller/v1alpha1/ && UPDATE_DEFAULTS=true $(GO) test . && echo "controller config api defaults updated"
+	cd internal/apis/config/webhook/v1alpha1/ && UPDATE_DEFAULTS=true $(GO) test . && echo "webhook config api defaults updated"
+
 .PHONY: setup-integration-tests
 setup-integration-tests: templated-crds